176 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



the most favorable to their welfare, but it would appear, from 

 the studies of the dates of their appearance during a period of 

 years in connection with the ocean temperature, that they 

 prefer to avoid water that is much colder than forty. It 

 is possible that the presence of their favorite food, the Men- 

 haden, has as much influence upon their movements as water 

 temperature. Certain it is, that few Blue-fish are found on 

 our Middle and Southern coast when the Menhaden are ab- 

 sent; on the other hand, the Blue-fish do not venture in great 

 numbers into the Gulf of Maine at the time when Menhaden 

 are schooling and are at their greatest abundance. Their 

 favorite summer haunts are in the partially protected waters 

 of the Middle States from May to October, with an average 

 temperature of sixty degrees to seventy-five degrees. The 

 Menhaden, or certain schools of them, affect a cooler climate 

 and thrive in the waters of Western and Central ?\laine in 

 the months when the harbor temperatures are little above 

 fifty and fifty-five, and that of the ocean considerably lower. 

 Since Prof. Baird wrote in 1871, there has been no great 

 change in the abundance of the Blue-fish. They are quite 

 sufficient in number to supply the demand for them and to 

 make great inroads upon the other fishes, some of which, like 

 the Menhaden or Mackerel, would perhaps, if undisturbed 

 by the Blue-fish, be more valuable than they are at present, 

 '^^hey have now been with us for fifty years. Their numbers 

 are subject to periodical variations, of the causes of which 

 we are ignorant. It is to be regretted that there are no rec- 

 ords of it in the South Atlantic States. If such existed we 

 might, perhaps, learn from them that the Blue-fish remained 

 in those waters while absent from the northern coasts. Only 

 one statement is to be found which covers this period, 

 although Lawson, in his "History of North Carolina," pub- 

 lished in 1709, and Catesby, in his "Natural History of the 

 Carolinas." published in 1743, refer to its presence. In "Ber- 

 tram's Travels," published in 1791, the "Skipjack" is men- 



