[9] SEA BIRDS AS BAIT FOR CATCHING CODFISH. 319 



take in the situation. So greedy, however, are many of these birds that 

 oftentimes they seem to leave, with great reluctance, the place where 

 food is plentiful, even though they may be gorged to such an extent 

 that they can eat no more. I have often, on such occasions, seen them 

 lingering near the boats, looking upon a tempting piece of liver appar- 

 ently with an expression indicative of regret that they could not find 

 room for it. Frequently these greedy and garrulous birds also quar- 

 rel with their companions and attempt to drive them away from the 

 food which they desire, but cannot accommodate. Of course their 

 endeavors are futile, for while they are opposing one, others rush in 

 and devour the liver. 



When hags are abundant recruits are constantly arriving, and con- 

 gregate in great numbers wherever food can be obtained. Eager to 

 secure a share in the feast, the newcomers rush ravenously forward and 

 swallow the pieces of liver, and are quickly pulled in by the fishermen, 

 who, after killing them in the manner described, detach them from the 

 hooks, and throw them in the bottom of the boat. 



After awhile, however, the whole flock usually evinces a shyness which 

 renders the sport unprofitable, and the men then employ themselves in 

 hauling their trawls, or they go aboard the vessel.* If a sufficient quan- 

 tity has been taken to more than supply the wants of the day, the birds 

 are hung up around the booms and on the stern of the vessel. A few 

 years ago it was not an unusual sight to see from two hundred to five 

 hundred birds, more or less, of this species, suspended from a Grand- 

 Banker. In this manner they may be kept for several days without 

 becoming worthless for baiting purposes, and, if eviscerated, they will 

 keep fresh a much longer time. Indeed, I am told that in the fall it has 

 been a common custom for the Marblehead bankers to save quite a num- 

 ber of these birds and bring them home in a fresh condition from the 

 Banks, the hagdons being simply eviscerated and hung up in the hold 

 of the vessel. 



These birds are eaten to some extent by the fishermen of the present 

 day. Forty or fifty years ago, and even earlier, this species formed an 

 important item in the bill of fare of a Grand Bank codfisherman. Al- 



* It may be stated here that the capture of hagdons may occur at any time of the 

 day and under different circumstances from those above mentioned ; but the descrip- 

 tion given represents the most common method adopted. The birds are also often 

 caught towards evening after the trawls have been set for the night, or from a dory 

 paid astern of the schooner. In the former case, the men, after setting their gear, make 

 their boat fast to the outer buoy of the trawl, and having enticed a flock of birds 

 around their boat, they proceed to catch as many of the hagdons as is possible in the 

 manner described. Ordinarily these birds are not caught to any great extent from vea 

 sels, except when the roughness of the weather renders it undesirable to go out in 

 the dories, or when an unusually large and hungry flock has been collected alongside, 

 attracted by the offal thrown out while dressing fish. At such times the men usually 

 stand on both sides of the quarter-deck and catch the birds in the manner that has 

 already been mentioned, except that wooden floats are occasionally attached to the 

 lines a foot or two above the hook. 



