FISHERIES AT CHICAGO AND VICINITY. 789 



the fall ; again there are two seasons, one commencing in April and end- 

 ing in June, and a second season commencing in September and ending 

 in November or December. 



Some seining is done at the mouth of the river during the summer, 

 when some species — principally the white-bass Roccns chrysops, crowd up 

 into the moutli of the river in large numbers. 



All the marketable fish taken at this place are dressed and sent to 

 Chicago, 12 miles, in wagons. They generally find a ready market ; at 

 times wheu there is a large run of fish all along the shore, the market 

 is filled and they bring a very low price, selliug for from 1 to G cents per 

 pound, according to kind and quality. 



The net owner at this place said that when a large run occurs in warm 

 weather, the most of the fishermen hurry fheir entire catch into the 

 market the first day and supplying the demand, the fish which are taken 

 the remainder of the run bring a price so low that it does not i)ay the 

 expense of getting them into market, and large quantities are allowed 

 10 spoil. The only way to avoid the difiQculty would be to take only 

 enough fish from the pounds to supply the demand, and in this way 

 keep the prices uniform, and avoid uselessly destroying large numbers 

 of fish. 



D— LISTS OF SPECIES TAKEN AT CHICAGO AND FISHING IN 

 ADJACENT REGIONS. 



Although Mr. Milner wrote up the habits and distribution of the lake 

 fishes so thoroughly in his report for 1871-1872, I have thought that 

 some additional facts regarding the species which have come under my 

 observation may be of value, and so note them here. 



For comparison I have made separate lists of the species found at 

 Chicago and those at South Chicago, as many of the species which are 

 abundant at one place are comparatively rare at the other, and vice- 

 versa. 



1. — CHICAGO FOR SPRING SEASON OF 1875. 



Lota lacusfris, (Walb.) ;* lawyer; eel pout — Common during first half 

 of the season; towards the last half of the season they became quite 

 rare. This species is never taken in large numbers from the pound, 

 but many are taken on the set-lines a few miles out and is occasion- 

 ally caught from the pie^s with hook and line. 



Haploidonotus grunniens, Raf.; sheephead — A common species in the 

 summer. Quite often taken with hook and line from the piers. It ap- 

 pears to be very irregular in its occurrence, some days not a single one 

 being taken from the pounds, and the next day there are from 50 to 100 

 pounds in each net ; after being abundant for a day or two they entirely 

 disapi3ear for several days. 



Micropterus pallidus, (Cuv. and Val.;) black bass. — Very rare ; one or 

 two taken in the jjound during the first of the season. 



* The nomenclature of the species in this paper, in Mr. Nelson's absence, has been 

 revised by Prof. D. S. Jordan.— J. W. M. 



