388 - AMERICAN FISHES. 



beneath, and the boat seems to be gliding over a floor inlaid with blocks 

 of silver. At night they are phosphorescent. Their motions seem capri- 

 cious and Avithout a definite purpose ; at times they swim around and 

 around in circles ; at other times they sink and rise. While they remain 

 thus at the surface, after the appearance of a vanguard they rapidly in- 

 crease in abundance until the sea appears to be alive with them. They 

 delight to play in inlets and bays, such as the Chesapeake, Peconic and 

 Narragansett Bays, and in former years frequented the narrow fiords cf 

 Maine. They seem particularly fond of shallow waters protected from the 

 wind, in which, if not molested, they will remain throughout the season,, 

 drifting in and out with the tide. Brackish water attracts them, and they 

 abound at the mouth of streams, especially on the Southern coast. 



Why the schools swim at the surface so conspicuous a prey to men, 

 birds and other fishes is not known. It does not appear to be for the pur- 

 pose of feeding ; perhaps the fisherman is right when he declares that they 

 are playing. 



An old mackerel fisherman thus describes the difference in the habits of 

 the mackerel and Menhaden : " Pogies school differently from mackerel; 

 the Pogy slaps with his tail, and in moderate weather you can hear the 

 sound of a school of them, as first one and then another strikes the water. 

 The mackerel go along " gilling," that is, putting the sides of their heads 

 out of the water as they swim. The Pogies make a flapping sound ; the 

 mackerel a rushing sound. Sometimes in calm and foggy weather you can 

 hear a school of mackerel miles away." They do not attract small birds 

 as do the schools of predaceous fish. The fish-hawk often hovers above 

 them, and some of the larger gulls occasionally follow them in quest of a 

 meal. 



Their winter habitat, like that of the other cold-water absentees, has 

 never been determined. The most plausible hypothesis supposes that 

 instead of migrating towards the tropics or hibernating near the shore, as 

 has been claimed by many, they swim out to sea until they find a stratum 

 of water corresponding to that frequented by them during their summer 

 sojourn on the coast. 



As indicated by the testimony of many observers, whose statements are 

 elsewhere reviewed at length, the Menhaden is by far the most abundant 

 species of fish on the eastern coast of the United States. Several hundred 

 thousands are frequently taken in a single draft of a purse-seine. A firm 



