HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 43 



ber, wheu they leave at once, swimming east. Tbey approach from the 

 east. The hirgest fish he thinks are found in August. In August and 

 September immense numbers ''strike on" and follow uj) the llousatonic 

 Itiver, and these are invariably poor. 



At Milford, Conn., we are informed by Mr. Miles, the first white-fish 

 are seen in April or May, the main body arriving in Long Island Sound 

 in June and July. Sometimes the first fish are the largest. The schools 

 or runs appear to come at intervals of from two to three weeks. The 

 fish come in around Montauk Point, the early fish follow along the Con- 

 necticut shore and up the rivers ; later in the season they are found off- 

 shore in deep Avater, though they occasionally work inshore and up the 

 rivers. Their appearance is regular and certain. The schools are mixed 

 as regards size, in the opinion of Mr. Miles. The schools begin to disap- 

 pear about the 1st of September, passing around Montauk Point to the 

 south, and are all gone by the 1st to the 15ch of October. 



At Westbrook, according to Captain Stokes, they appear about the 

 middle of May and leave in November in continuous schools, passing 

 around Montauk, bound to the south. In July the schools are the 

 largest. 



At Saybrook, says Captain Ingham, the first bony-fish are seen in 

 May, the main body arriving in June. The first are scattering and gen- 

 erally the largest 5 there are several runs at irregular intervals. The 

 appearance of the fish is regular and certain. They leave in October 

 mostly in a body. 



Captain Beebe, of the Cornfield Point light-vessel, writes that the 

 first bony-fish are seen in April, but that these are not the largest. They 

 work along the bays and rivers of the sound, drifting in with the flood 

 and out with the ebb. They leave about the middle of November in a 

 body, passing around Montauk Point to the southward. They ascend 

 the Connecticut above the Shore Line Railway bridge, where they are 

 often followed by the seining gangs belonging to Luce Brothers, of 

 Niantic. 



Block Island Sound. 



73. Captain John Washington, of Mystic Eiver, Conn., states that the 

 first bony-fish arrive in Block Island Sound early in April, followed by 

 larger schools toward the last of the month, and that they continue to 

 come in during the first half of the summer. They come in around Mou- 

 taiikin large schools, and after passingthe outer islands, thelarge schools 

 break up into smaller ones, which make their way toward the rivers and 

 coves. Their arrival is certain and quite regular, varying but a few days 

 from year to year. They begin to leave in October, and by the last of 

 November are gone. A few stragglers are seen in the Mystic Eiver until 

 the beginning of freezing weather. They swim southward in their fall 

 migration, going faster than when coming north in the spring. 



Capt. Jared S. Crandall observes that they first appear in Block Island 

 Sound about May 1, coming from the southward and through the east 



