THE PILCHARD. 213 
seasons of the year, and even there their habits vary in the 
different months. In January they keep near the bottom, and 
are chiefly hauled up in the stomachs of ravenous fishes; in 
March they sometimes assemble in schulls, but this union is only 
partialand not permanent and only becomes so in July; when they 
regularly and permanently congregate so as to invite the fisher- 
man’s pursuit. The season and situation for spawning, and the 
choice of food, are the chief reasons which influence the motions 
of the great bodies of these fish; and it is probable that a thorough 
knowledge of these particulars would explain all the variations 
which have been noticed in the doings of the pilchard, in the 
numerous unsuccessful seasons of the fishery. 
They feed with voracity on small crustaceous animals, and 
Mr. Yarrell frequently found their stomachs crammed with thou- 
sands of a minute species of shrimp, not larger than a flea. It 
is probably when they are in search of something like this, that 
fishermen report they have seen them lying in myriads quietly 
at the bottom, examining with their mouths the sand and small 
stones in shallow water. The abundance of this food must be 
enormous, to satisfy such a host. 
“When near the coast,’ says the author of the “ History 
of British Fishes,” “ the assemblage of pilchards assumes the 
arrangement of a mighty army, with its wings stretching parallel 
to the land, and the whole is composed of numberless smaller 
bodies, which are perpetually joining together, shifting their 
position, and separating again. There are three stations occupied 
by this great body, that have their separate influence on the 
success of the fishery. One is to the eastward of the Lizard, the 
most eastern extremity, reaching to the Bay of Bigbury in De- 
vonshire, beyond which no fishing is carried on, except that 
it occasionally extends to Dartmouth; a second station is included 
between the Lizard and Land’s End; and the third is on the 
north coast of the county, the chief station being about St. Ives. 
The subordinate motions of the shoals are much regulated by 
the tide, against the current of which they are rarely known to 
go, and the whole will sometimes remain parallel to the coast 
for several weeks, at the distance of a few leagues; and then, as if 
by general consent, they will advance close to the shore, sometimes 
without being discovered till they have reached it. This usually 
happens when the tides are strongest, and is the period when 
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