THE MACKERELS 



they are, no doubt, regulated by the potent factors 

 of food supply, proper temperature of water, and 

 favorable conditions for spawning. They go in 

 schools to an enormous extent, having been seen 

 in 1848 covering an area of half a mile in width, 

 and twenty miles in length ; another school 

 noticed in 1877, near Block Island, was estimated 

 to contain one million of barrels ; the fish were 

 swimming at the surface, or at varying depths 

 beneath it. 



Another varietal form of the mackerels is popu- 

 larly known as the chub mackerel, tinker mack- 

 erel, Easter mackerel, and thimble-eyed mackerel, 

 and ichthyologically recognized as Scomber colias 

 (the specific being an old name for one of the 

 mackerels). It is smaller than the common 

 mackerel, and said to be inferior to it as a table 

 fish. This fish suddenly disappeared from the 

 New England coast for many years, during the 

 early part of the last century, and is now very 

 irregular in its appearance. It may be differen- 

 tiated from the common mackerel by a black 

 axillary spot, and by the round dusky spots or 

 cloudings on the belly, none of which occur in 

 the common mackerel. 



Either of the above-named fishes will take the 

 anglers' lines with avidity, but a wired gimp snood 

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