40 REPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



the bar with the flood tide and going out with the ebb, and that the 

 saiiie fish are also seen in huge schools in calm weather during the win- 

 ter months outside the Sea Islands in about seven fathoms of water, and 

 three to four feet below the surface. Mr. Charles C. Leslie, a fish-dealer in 

 Charleston, S. C, informs me that schools of menhaden frequently are 

 seen in the winter off Charleston Harbor ; a statement which is con- 

 firmed by others, among them Mr. Daniel T. Church, of Ehode Island. 



Coast of N'orth Carolina. 



G7. Mr. A. C. Davis, of Beaufort, N. C, writes that the fat-back first 

 approaches the coast at that place in June, the main body arriving in 

 July from the south, entering the rivers and drifting up with the flood 

 tide and down with the ebb ; their appearance is regular and certain, 

 and has never failed, the numbers seeming to be greater every year. 

 They remain in the rivers and inlets throughout the summer, gradually 

 departing toward the close of October and the first of November to the 

 southward. During the season they are constantly coming in at inter- 

 vals. Those which first arrive are one-quarter to one-half grown, no full- 

 grown fish appearing until later in the season. In bad weather, espe- 

 cially with northern winds, they leave for the sea, returning in moderate 

 weather, with southerly- winds. 



Mr. A. W. Simpson, jr., of Cape Hatteras light-station, records sev- 

 eral interesting facts concerning the movements of the fat-back around 

 that cape. They first make their appearance in June and remain until 

 December; they generally come in to the shore on the northern coast of 

 the cape, running south along the beach and entering the inlets and 

 rivers. In the first of the season they ma^' be seen, in moderate 

 weather, five or six miles at sea, in large schools half a mile in length, 

 apparently floating upon the surface of the water. They always make 

 their appearance from the north and leave the coast by the same route. 

 Some are seen in the sounds and rivers all the year. When the second 

 large run occurs in the fall they appear in immense numbers. This is 

 sometimes in November and in other seasons in December. In 1873 

 they were first seen on the coast about the 6th of December, and the 

 main body arrived about the 10th of December. Many schools may be 

 seen at one time. They seldom come near the coast in high winds and 

 rough seas, or if they do they swim so low that they are not seen 

 from land. Their appearance is certain and they are about the same 

 in abundance every year at the spring run, but the fall and winter 

 runs vary somewhat, the number in some seasons being very much 

 smaller. Mr. Simpson thinks that the tides do not affect their move- 

 ments in any respect, except that they prefer to swim against the tide; 

 he has convinced himself, by careful observation, that more enter the 

 inlets on the ebb than on the flood, though they are frequently seen 

 drifting up and down channels with the flood and ebb. The one and 

 two years' fish school by themselves, the young in large schools along 

 the sandy shores. Many fish pass the winter in the inlets and rivers. 



