HISTORY OF THE AMEEIOAN MENHADEN 49 



in size, the liiig(M' may coiiio .sooner or later; iiotliing cei tain is known 

 as regards this. After rounding Oape Cod, some touch ll;<' coast in the 

 vicinity of Gloucester, Mass., but by far the larger poriion it appears 

 keep off shore, antl near it anywhere from Cai)e Elizabeth to Monhegan. 

 The main body of these fish continue to pass toward the east till about 

 the 2()th of July, when that impetus seems to be checked, and for thirty 

 or forty days their movements are seemingly local. Then they begin 

 their return tc the west, and continue to repass until in October. The 

 last bodies are urgent in their westward course. Their appearance is 

 regular, and they have never been known to fail. The temperature of 

 the air affects them; they will not ' show' or come to the surface when 

 cold north or east winds prevail." 



Boardmau and Atkins state that the latest date at which menhaden 

 have been observed on the western coast of Maine, between Cape Eliza- 

 beth and Pemaquid, is October 25, and the period of greatest abun- 

 dance about the last of July or the first of August, although for several 

 weeks preceding and following that date, there is little variation in their 

 number. Since the publication of his report Mr. Atkins has observed 

 small menhaden as late as December in the vicinity of Bncksport. 



Mr. Benjamin F. Brightman, of Round Pond, Me., also largely inter- 

 ested in the fisheries, states that the first fish make their appearance 

 about the 1st of June, though usually scattering. Seining begins about 

 the 15th J the fish are poor then and rather smaller than those taken in 

 August and September, when the smacks go off shore from five to thirty 

 miles to get larger and fatter fish. Seining begins about the 15th of 

 June, and continues until the 15th of October. They are most abun- 

 dant and easily seen on a warm, sunshiny day. The fish start to go 

 west about the middle of September, and continue going until the last 

 of October. 



Mr. John Grant, keeper of Matinicus Rock light-station, writes that 

 they arrive about the 1st of June, the larger body from the middle to the 

 last of June, the last school being much the largest and fattest. There 

 axe commonly several schools at irregular intervals. A favorite play- 

 ingground is between Seguin Island, and Matinicus Rock, and in the 

 bays and mouths of rivers between those two points. The fish leave 

 about the middle of October in a body. 



On the eastern side of Penobscot Bay near Brooklin, according to 

 Messrs. J. C. Condon and R. A. Friend, pogies come in from the 10th to 

 the 15th of June, and leave by degrees after the 1st of October. They 

 are most abundant in June and July. 



In the same vicinity, according to Mr. Z. D. Norton, the first menhaden 

 seen are scattering individuals that are caught in gill-nets and wears in 

 May, often as early as the middle of the month. The schools do not 

 appear until the middle of June, on an average. They leave in Septem- 

 ber commonly. In Bluebill Bay they are sometimes known to stay as 

 late as October. 

 4 F 



