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exhausted that "a down-stream shad" has become a proverb for lean- 

 ness. The fishing season in the Connecticut is from the 15th of 

 March to the 15th of June ; but fish come into the stream earlier, and 

 some probably do not spawn until the last of July. Those used by 

 the Fish Commissioners for artificial propagation are taken mainly in 

 the tliree weeks following the 15th of June. The shad of the Hudson 

 occupy about the same time as those of the Connecticut in depositing 

 their spawn. At least four months are occupied by the different 

 shoals in performing this office. The favorite spawning grounds are 

 immediately below rapids, like those of Bellows Falls, and Hadley 

 Falls in the Connecticut. Here there are many eddies and side cur- 

 rents, where the spawn are kept in constant inotion, before they are 

 carried oif by the main current. It seems highly probable that nearly 

 all the spawn that supply the Connecticut are dropped at Hadley 

 Falls. There is no good place for the capture of ripe fish below, and 

 many of the fish taken there have all the marks of fresh run shad, 

 and are but a few hours from the sea, though they have come seventy 

 miles or more. It has been ascertained by those who have watched 

 the operation, that the males and females, in spawning, swim about 

 in circles, probably following the eddies of the stream, sometimes 

 with the dorsal fins out of the water ; when suddenly the whole shoal, 

 as if seized by a common impulse, rush forward and shoot out clouds 

 of milt and spawn into the water. The alewives observe the same 

 method in spawning, though they select ponds and still places in the 

 river for their beds. The most common term for this operation, at 

 the alewife fisheries, is " shooting the spawn," showing that the pro- 

 cess is a matter of common observation. Tlie ova, left to the care of 

 water, are mostly devoured by fish that lie in wait for them. It is 

 estimated that not one in a thousand ever comes to life. Those that 

 hatch are gradually carried seaward by the force of the current, and 

 by October and November leave the river as young fish, from four to 

 six inches long. 



We have learned almost all that we know of the natural history of 

 this fish, since its artificial propagation was undertaken at Hadley 

 Falls, in 1867. Many of the erroneous opinions held by old fisher- 

 men upon the rivers have been dissipated, and certain facts are well 

 established, though much yet remains to be learned. It is now 

 known that the life of the shad, instead of being limited to one year, 

 extends to five, and probably to ten or twelve years; that the 

 "chicken shad," as they are called among the pound fishermen, 

 instead of being a distinct species, are the yearlings of the p7'cestabilis / 



