THE HORSE-MACKEREL. 210 



ray not half as long as the longest ray in that fin. Number of fin 

 rays — 



1st D. 8 j 2d D. 3J ; P. 21 ; V. 6 ; A. 27 ; C. 18 ; Branchial rays 7. 



In the Firth of Forth, seldom more than a dozen or a 

 dozen and a half of these fish are taken throughout the year, 

 and these are foimd in the salmon nets at Musselburgh 

 and Queensferry, during the months of July, August, and 

 September. They are very uncertain visitants, for in the 

 year 1833 and 1834 scarcely a single specimen was observed 

 in the Firth, while on the English coast, they were seen and 

 taken in prodigious numbers. Mr Yarrell states, that in 

 July 1834 inunense shoals were seen off the coast of Gla- 

 morganshire. They were first observed in the evening, and 

 the whole sea, as far as one could command it with the eye, 

 seemed to be in a state of fermentation with their numbers. 

 Every net was immediately put in requisition, so that they 

 were taken by cart-loads. Their feeding time appeared to 

 be morning and evening, when they were seen pursuing the 

 herring fry. According to Mr Couch, " they regularly 

 visit the coast of Cornwall and Devon, commonly in scat- 

 tered numbers, but occasionally in considerable shoals. The 

 first appearance of these fish is not until the end of April, 

 and are not abundant before the warm months, when some 

 may be found on board of every fishing boat. They are 

 rarely brought to market, and in many places even the fisher- 

 men are not in the habit of eating them; in the west of 

 Cornwall, however, they are salted in the same way as 

 mackerel, and in this state meet with a ready sale in winter. 

 The usual habit of these fish is to keep near the ground ; but 

 when they assemble in pursuit of sandlaunce or other favour- 

 ite food, as they sometimes do in innumerable multitudes, 

 they become so eager as to thrust each other in heaps on the 

 sand." "■ On Tuesday evening, in the month of August, up- 



