i2p WILD LIFE OF SCOTLAND 



scallop (Pecten opercularis). Although not fixing 

 itself to the bottom, like the mussel (except in the 

 earliest stages of its existence), but rather jerking 

 about in the liveliest manner, by the opening, and 

 shutting of the shell, it is still essentially gregarious, 

 gathering in vast numbers into one place. A 

 gigantic bed, twelve miles long; and a second 

 smaller one, yield an almost exhaustless supply of 

 bait to the fishermen of Newhaven, Prestonpans, 

 Leith, and other places both on the Fife, and the 

 Lothian shores. 



The pecten differs from the mussel in being 

 impatient of exposure, and more of a deep-water 

 mollusc. Whereas, the range of the latter is, 

 roughly speaking, from five fathoms shoreward, 

 that of the former is from five fathoms seaward. 

 The rake with its eighteen-feet handle is of no use 

 in the Forth. Either the individual dredges for 

 himself ; or certain men make a living by dredging 

 for the rest. There may be a danger of this hap- 

 hazard mode of proceeding leading to exhaustion, 

 similar to that of the oyster-beds ; more especially 

 as, unlike the mussel, the pecten is not amenable 

 to artificial culture. 



There is a little natural rivalry between the .bait 

 of the Forth, and that of the rest of the coast. The 



