THE SEA-BASSES 



estuaries, or with crab bait in the lower brackish 

 waters of the coast-rivers. 



They are handsome, clipper-built fish, particu- 

 larly when they do not exceed one or two pounds 

 in weight, when they are called " school bass." 

 As they grow in years, they become "aldermanic" 

 in appearance, but do not lose their strenuous re- 

 sistance to capture. As a table fish they excel, their 

 flesh being firm, white, flaky, and of excellent flavor. 



They may be recognized on sight by the olive- 

 green color on the back, often brassy, with a silver 

 sheen shining through the darker hues, by the 

 seven or eight continuous (sometimes inter- 

 rupted), blackish stripes, one of them being along 

 the centre of the body. They range on the 

 Atlantic Coast from New Brunswick to Florida, 

 but are most common from Cape Cod to Cape 

 May. In the waters of Maryland and those of 

 Virginia emptying into the Chesapeake Bay, they 

 grow to a large size. I have seen, on a market 

 stall in Baltimore, four of these fish, the average 

 weight of which reached nearly ninety pounds ; 

 and Professor G. Brown Goode, now deceased, 

 but formerly Curator of the National Museum at 

 Washington, stated that one weighing one hun- 

 dred and twelve pounds was taken at Orleans, 

 Massachusetts. 



VOL. II. IO J4£ 



