HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 71 



Movements to and from the surface. 



93. The arrival of the menhaden is announced by their appearance at 

 the top of the water. They swim in immense schools, their heads close 

 to the surface, packed side by side, and often tier above tier, almost as 

 closely as sardines in a box. A gentle ripple, caused by the motion of 

 the vertical fins, indicates the position of the school, and this may be 

 seen at the distance of nearly a mile by the lookout at the masthead of 

 a fishing-vessel, and is of great assistance to the seine-men in setting 

 their nets. At the slightest alarm the school sinks toward the bottom, and 

 in this way often escapes its pursuers. When sailing over a school of 

 menhaden, swimming a short distance below the surface, one may see their 

 glitteriug backs beneath, and the boat seems to be gliding over a floor 

 inlaid with blocks of solid silver. At night they are phosphorescent and 

 their backs glow like fire. The motions of the schools seem capricious, 

 and without a definite purpose ; at times they swim around and around 

 in circles, at other times they sink or rise. Why they swiui at the sur- 

 face so conspicuous a prey to men, birds, and other fishes, is not known ; 

 it does not appear to, be for the purpose of feeding 5 perhaps the fisher- 

 man is right when he declares that they are "playing." When they 

 are pursued by other fish they fly in confusion like a flock of fright- 

 ened sheep, and are often driven in great masses upon the shores. 



The swimming haMts of menhaden and macTier el. 



« 



94. An old mackerel fisherman thus describes the difference in the 

 habits of the schools of mackerel and menhaden : 



" The pogies school diflerently from mackerel. The pogy slaps with 

 his tail, and in moderate weather you can hear the sound of a school of 

 them as first one, then another, strikes the water. The mackerel go 

 along 'gilling' — that is, putting the sides of their heads out of the water 

 as they swim. The pogies make a flapping sound, the mackerel a rush- 

 ing sound. You can sometimes, in calm and foggy weather, hear schools 

 of mackerel miles away." 



Birds attracted by the schools. 



95. They do not attract terns, as do the schools of predaceous fish, for 

 they are too large to be an easy prey for those birds, and they are not 

 in pursuit of crustaceans or smaller fish, which might also serve as food 

 for the small buds. The bluefish and bonitos are attended by eager 

 flocks of gulls and terns, which find a bountiful supply in the remnants 

 of their voracious feasting, floating on the surface in their wake. The 

 fish-hawk {Pandion carolinensis) often hovers over the schooling men- 

 haden, and some of the larger gulls occasionally follow them in quest of 

 a meal. About Cape Cod one of the gulls, perhaps Larus argcntatus^ is 

 known as the " pogy-gull." 



