THE YELLOW TAIL FAMILY. 155 



interesting sight to see 2 or 3 Tailer "rushing" a small 

 shoal of Mullet on, say. a shallow, sandy flat. They race 

 along with almost lightning speed, sweeping round now and 

 again in the most graceful curves, cleaving the water at 

 the surface with their blue backs and sending the little 

 ripples and eddies away on each side of them. Though at 

 times great numbers of large fish could be captured by our 

 fishermen, no special fishery for this species yet exists on 

 our coast ; the principal reason being that the fish decom- 

 poses so rapidly after death, this rendering it what is called 

 a "bad fish for market." This is very regrettable, as a 

 freshly caught and cooked Tailer is of fine flavour and fit 

 to grace the best tables. At the present time, the average 

 fisherman feels rather aggrieved if a few Tailer are enclosed 

 in his net, as they have a troublesome habit of rushing the 

 net, snapping at it with those awful jaws and making holes 

 to let themselves and other fishes out. 



Fig. 50. TAILER (Pomatomus saltatrix). 



As a smoked fish the Tailer is "really excellent," that 

 being the universal opinion ; and from an economic point of 

 view undoubtedly there is a great future before it. In the 

 United States of America at the present time, great quan- 

 tities are captured and sold, either in a fresh condition or 

 preserved in a smoked or pickled state; the amount con- 

 sumed annually in the country mentioned being very con- 

 siderable. 



During 1901, the quantity of Tailer captured in the 

 six Middle-Atlantic States of the United States of America 

 reached the enormous total of 16,317,795 pounds (valued it 

 about 151,600) ; that of the State of New York alone being 

 9.350,502 pounds. 



