THE SHAD. 229 



about to spawn the head is usually covered with small 

 white tubercles ; it is also at this time, as Buckland says, 

 " the gentlemen wear green and red coats." 



Minnows are voracious feeders, and it is doubtful if 

 their presence in trout-streams is beneficial when very 

 numerous. No doubt they are food for the big fish, but 

 do not they devour an enormous quantity of food of which 

 the smaller trout ought to be the sole recipients ? 



How well Keats describes their habits ! 



" O'er their pebbly beds, 



Where swarms of minnows show their little heads, 

 Staying their wavy bodies 'gainst the streams, 

 To taste the luxury of the sunny beams, 

 Tempered with coolness. How they ever wrestle 

 With their own sweet delight, and ever nestle 

 Their silver bellies on the pebbly sand ! 

 If you but scantily hold out your hand, 

 That very instant not one will remain ; 

 But turn your eye, and there they are again." 



The colour on the top of the head and back is darkish- 

 olive, mottled, and of a silvery-pink colour on the sides ; 

 the abdomen white, with a beautiful rosy or pink tint, 

 varying in intensity ; the irides and gill-covers silvery- 

 white ; dorsal fin pale-brown ; pectoral, ventral, and anal 

 fins much lighter in colour; the caudals light-brown, with 

 one dark-brown spot at the base of the rays. 



Fin-rays: dorsal, 9; pectoral, 16 ; ventral, 8; anal, 9; 

 caudals 19. 



THE SHAD. 



The SHAD or TWAITE SHAD (Alosa fintd), one of the 

 Clupeidce, is an anadromous fish, entering the fresh-waters 

 about May and ascending the rivers for spawning purposes 

 to a considerable distance. It was formerly abundant in 

 the Thames, and one of its favourite haunts were the 

 reaches between Putney Bridge and Hammersmith. There 

 are very few, if any, to be found now in the Thames, but 

 in the Severn they are more common, and generally follow 



