400 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. — [6] 
ually diminishes, and by the 1st of October the last individuals have 
disappeared. A little later they leave the Chesapeake, and few are seen 
on the Uarolina coast after the 1st of November. 
Their summer movements are doubtless affected to a considerable 
extent by the movements of the menhaden and other small fishes on 
which they feed, as they are usually most plenty in the localities where 
these fish are found. They exhibit great activity in the capture of their 
prey, darting through the water with great speed, and often leaping 
into the air in long and graceful curves, cutting the water neatly as 
they re-enter it. This peculiar leap is characteristic of the species, and 
by it the fishermen are enabled to distinguish the mackerel from their 
allies, the blue-fish, that atter jumping from the water fall back upon 
its surface with a splash. 
During the spawning season the mackerel enter the warmer and 
shoaler water of the bays, the individuals at this time being quite gep- 
erally distributed and the schools often considerably scattered. n 
entering the Chesapeake, they remain about ‘“‘ The Capes” for some time, 
but as the season advances, according to Mr. Sterling, of Crisfield, Md., 
they start for the upper waters, and distribute themselves over the large 
spawning grounds of the region. Some weeks later they reassemble, and 
proceed down and out of the bay on the way to their winter quarters. 
In moving along the coast the mackerel seem to avoid fresh or even 
brackish water, and for this reason are seldom taken near the mouth of 
the larger rivers. This habit is thought to account for their greater 
abundance on the eastern than on the western side of the Chesapeake. 
Along the last-named shore the saltness of the water is considerably 
affected by the enormous quantity of fresh water brought down by the 
large rivers of the State; no rivers of importance occur along the east- 
ern shore, and this portion of the bay is, therefore, nearly as salt as the 
ocean. 
During its stay on our coast, the Spanish mackerel may properly be 
Styled a surface fish. It seldom descends to any great depth, but rather 
remains at or near the surface, and may often be seen leaping into the 
air cr sporting at the top of the water. On a.calm, bright day the sur- 
face of the ocean is sometimes broken for miles together by the move- 
ments of a large school of these fish. 
5.— ABUNDANCE, PAST AND PRESENT. 
There are many and conflicting opinions with reference to the first 
appearance of the Spanish mackerel in our waters. Many sportsmen, 
whose opinions should be entitled to some weight, agree with the major 
ity of the marketmen and fishermen in saying that the species was 
seldom seen prior to 1850, and that it did not become an important food- 
fish till some years later. Others, who have studied the movements of 
the species more carefully, claim, and with-reason, that it has visited the 
coast of the United States each summer since the earliest settlement of 
