HERRING. 



741 



that of the west being over before the eastern one 

 comes on ; and this would lead to a conclusion that 

 there is a difference of species, or at all events of 

 variety, between the herrings of those two seas. The 

 usual way of explaining this was derived from the 

 absurd notion of the annual pilgrimage of herrings 

 from the pole ; and as that must be abandoned, we 

 can only suppose that the herrings which come near 

 the land at different seasons in places so little different 

 from each other spawn at different seasons. It is 

 probable that the common herring is the herring of 

 the Atlantic, though the other is certainly met with 

 there also ; and that the present species is the herring 

 ot the north seas, which inhabiting water of a colder 

 temperature, is later in bringing its spawn to maturity. 

 These however are points respecting which there 

 must l)e a good deal farther examination before the 

 difficulty can be cleared. 



THE PILCHARD (C. pilchardus). The pilchard is 

 a more southerly and more local fish than the her- 

 ring ; being, as a British h'sh, found chiefly on the 

 Cornish coasts, and it is rare indeed that one is met 

 with beyond Dover, or even in the narrow part of the 

 channel. The old story assigned the same pilgrim- 

 age to the pilchard as to the herring ; but it is now 

 well ascertained to be resident on the coast of Corn- 

 wall all the year round, only it follows the instinct of 

 the genus, by coming to the shore for maturing and 

 depositing its spawn, and returning again to the deep 

 water when these purposes arc accomplished. In the 

 cold months, they remain in the deep water ; and 

 they are a little capricious in the times of their appear- 

 ance in numbers near the land, though not so much 

 so with regard to places as the herrings. Sometimes 

 they come as early as March and April ; but July 

 and August are the times of their regular appear- 

 ance, the great fishing being in August and Septem- 

 oer, at which times they are taken both with the 

 scan and drift net. They appear to deposit spawn 

 very irregularly at different times of the summer. 

 The motions of the shoals of pilchards are very capri- 

 cious ; and therefore, though they are found on the 

 same grounds year alter year, a good deal of experi- 

 ence is requisite in order to be successful in the cap- 

 ture of them. 



The description of the -pilchard fishery given by 

 Mr. Yarrell is highly interesting, but our limits do 

 not admit of quoting. The most interesting mode is 

 perhaps that with the scan. This is generally used 

 in the sandy bays, and the fish, which are exceedingly 

 timid, are driven into such a situation as that they 

 can be enclosed by the net. When a large haul of 

 fishes are enclosed in the net, and brought to the sur- 

 face, the splutter and noise which they make in at- 

 tempting to escape is very great ; but when the large 

 scan is properly worked, and secured by grapnels, 

 the fish can be taken from it in portions at a time, so 

 that if the quantity enclosed is very great, the remov- 

 ing of the pilchards from the sean may ^occupy a 

 whole week. The number of these fish which is cap- 

 tured is often very great. Two thousand or three 

 thousand hogsheads have been taken by one scan in the 

 course of a year ; and as a hogshead contains from 

 two thousand to five thousand fish, the number is 

 immense. Twenty-five millions of pilchards have 

 sometimes been landed at one port in a single day, 

 which is more than a pilchard a piece to every man, 

 woman and child, in the three kingdoms ; and as this 

 is only one out of three or four ports at which this 



fishery is carried on, at the south-west of England 

 alone, it is not too much to say, that local as the pil- 

 chard fishery is, it might be made to support while it 

 lasts the whole people of the united kingdom. 



Pilchards also occur in great numbers on the south- 

 west of Ireland, the principal fishery being in Bantry 

 Bay ; and they are found, though less abundantly, on 

 the south-east and east of Ireland. They are like- 

 wise met with on the French coasts, and on those of 

 Spain, but less abundantly on the latter ; thereby 

 proving that the fishes are very local, and do not 

 extend into the warm latitudes. 



The pilchard is thicker and smaller than the her 

 ring ; the scales are large, they are periodically shed, 

 and have a fringe at the posterior edge, which enables 

 them to take a powerful hold on the water when 

 swimming. The dorsal fin is nearly triangular ; and 

 its posterior edge is nearly over the centre of gravity, 

 so that when a pilchard is held by this fin, the head 

 rises, and the tail droops down, which is the very 

 reverse of what happens with the herring. In the 

 average of pilchards there is one ray more in the 

 dorsal fin, one more in the pectoral, one less in the 

 ventral, four more in the anal, and one less in the 

 caudal, and there is one vertebra less in the spinal 

 column. It is probable though however, that the 

 number of rays in the fins are subject to variation, as 

 is the case with the herring. The mouth is small 

 and toothless, with the under jaw projecting beyond 

 the upper ; and the food is understood to consist of 

 the smallest insects and Crustacea which inhabit the 

 sea. The eyes are whitish yellow, the gill-covers 

 bright yellow, the upper part bluish green, the sides 

 and belly silvery, and the dorsal and caudal fins 

 dusky. 



THE SPRAT (C. spratlus). The old opinion that 

 the sprat is the young or fry of the herring, is now 

 exploded by all who are in the least acquainted with 

 the habits and characters offish, but it still continues 

 a matter of popular belief in many places. Indeed, 

 in a family of fishes which possess so much family 

 likeness, and yet differ so much in size, it was per- 

 haps natural to suppose, in the times of ignorance, 

 that the smaller ones were the young of the larger. 

 There is something in the succession of herrings and 

 sprats which may lead vulgar belief this way, though 

 to'those who reflect on the matter the conclusion to 

 which it leads is exactly the opposite. Sprats corne 

 near the shores in great numbers after the herrings 

 are gone, but seldom if ever so long as these remain ; 

 thus it was natural to conclude that the offspring fol- 

 lowed the parents. But then the sprats come to the 

 shores for the same purpose as the herrings ; and \ve 

 never find the young of any species of seasonal fish 

 making their appearance in numbers, or of a size 

 worth catching-, until a considerable time after the 

 parent fishes have taken their departure. The 

 herrings disappear in the beginning of winter gene- 

 rally, and the young herrings are not found till the 

 end of spring, or the beginning of summer.^ Sprats 

 appear in the beginning of winter, and continue the 

 whole winter through ; and though there is no doubt 

 that the young sprats are hatched some time about 

 midsummer, yet they are not so much observed as 

 the young herrings. Though sprats are small, they 

 are not without their value ; because they are caught 

 in vast numbers, arid at a season when neither 

 pilchard nor herring in the recent state is to be had. 

 They are sold cheap ; but when recent and dressed 



