55 



indistinct in its apical portion, and the same may be said of those 

 from the area immediate^ in front of the beginning of the anal fin. 



By following the same method as employed in the case of 

 the herring for determining the size of the fish at the formation 

 of the winter rings, the figures given in Table I. were obtained, 

 and the Umits of variation are shown. It will be observed that^ 

 the lowest average for the size at the formation of the first winter 

 ring was obtained from area D, and that the sizes at the formation 

 of the second, third, fourth and fifth winter rings gradually increase 

 as the scales are taken nearer and nearer to the posterior end of 

 the body. The sizes obtaining at the formation of the first winter 

 ring may be influenced by the apical portion of the ring being 

 somewhat indistinct in scales from the anterior and posterior 

 portion of the body. 



Through the kindness Of Mr. D. C. Miller, of North Shields, 

 it was possible to obtain samples of scales from eighteen pilchards, 

 which were caught during the herring season of last j'ear, and had 

 been pickled and preserved more as curiosities than anything else. 

 The length of these fish, the number of transparent rings, and the 

 size at the formation of these rings will be found in Table II. 



Our local waters are not visited by large numbers of pilchards, 

 and the opportunity is not afforded of making intensive investiga- 

 tions with regard to this fish, which is doubtless a migrant into the 

 North Sea after s^Dawning in the Channel, or in exceptional years 

 in the southern portion of the Flemish Bight. But it is more 

 than probable that investigations carried out where material is 

 plentiful would throw considerable light on the question of the 

 growth of the pilchard and the age composition of the shoals which 

 annually visit the southern waters of this country. 



