HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 41 



but most of tbein leave the coast bj' a northern route, the spring runs 

 leaving iu October, the fall runs about the middle of January. Some 

 seasons they go to sea in large schools and others they drop away grad- 

 ually. The lirst of the spring-runs arc usually the smallest. During 

 the summer the large schools are only seen occasionally, though Mr. 

 Simpson thinks that they are on the coast continually. They only come 

 near the outer sea-beach when driven in in October and November by 

 the tailor {roinatomns saltatrix), or blue-fish of the North, and the dog- 

 fish {Mustehis hcvis). 



Coast of Virginia and Chesapeake Bay. 



G8. According to Mr. Henry Richardson, the alewives are caught in 

 the vicinity of Cape Henry as early as March, though the main body 

 does not come in until June and July. During these months they are 

 constantly passing the Virginia capes and entering Chesapeake Bay, 

 coming from the south. 



The Potomac fishermen inform me that they appear iu the spring 

 soon after the shad and herring, remaining in the Potomac during the 

 season, where they prove a serious hinderance to the working of the shad 

 seines. Young fish seven inches in length were taken in the lower 

 Potomac at Naujemoy Eeach as late as December 10, 1874, but disap- 

 peared after the first heavy frost. The first schools appeared late in 

 March and early in April, 1875, and in 1878 early in March. 



At Apateague Island, Accomac County, Virginia, according to Mr. J. 

 L. Anderton, they are first seen swimming northward near the coast in 

 April, the main body arriving in June. Their appearance is regular. 

 They run in-shore on the flood, drifting off with the ebb. In November 

 they are seen making their way toward the south. 



In Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds, says Mr. Lawson, they appear 

 .about May 1, the fish of different sizes in separate schools ; they are 

 found there in quantity throughout the season, the southward migration 

 beginning iu August and continuing until the middle of October. 



I find a manuscript note by Professor Baird to the effect that they 

 are found in large schools at Cape Charles, Virginia, from April to 

 October, being most numerous on the bay side of the peninsula. 



Delaware Bay. 



G9. Mr. James H. Bell, keeper of Mispillion River light-house, Dela- 

 ware Bay, states that fish are first seen in those waters early in March, 

 and grow more numerous until about the middle of Ai)ril, when they are 

 frightened away by the sea-trout. They soon return in increasing num- 

 bers until the middle or last of May, after which they begin to disappear 

 in large schools until the first of August, when they again become num- 

 erous, and continue so if the weather is mild, when they begin to dis- 

 appear, working out to sea through the channel. The opinion of Mr. 

 Bell is that after entering the bay they follow the main channel, spread- 



