SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 371 



or ravenous pollack while the commonest name for him on the 

 Yorkshire coast is parr in childhood, and billet in middle age. 

 Coalsey, coal w kiting, and black pollack are also common names, 

 and those who have visited the north-west coast of Ireland, 

 and are taken out glissaun fishing, will recognise in their cap- 

 tures the billet of Scarborough. The Irish fishermen, by the 

 way, have a theory which is very likely founded on fact, that 

 when a glissaun or coalfish is hooked and is drawn through the 

 water, its comrades follow it, regarding it as the leader of the 

 shoal. Two lines, and often more, are used, depending from 

 long bamboo rods, the bait being a rough wool-bodied fly. 

 When a fish is hooked it is not drawn in until a second glissaun 

 has taken a fly. Then one line is hauled in, and the other, with 

 the unfortunate fish struggling at the end, left out for the shoal 

 to follow. The sport, while it lasts, is fast and furious, and 

 there is no difficulty in keeping a fish out on one of the lines. 

 Mackerel fishermen have much the same idea. When fishing 

 in fresh water I have often, seen several fish follow one I had 

 hooked and was bringing to the surface. Chub, perch, and 

 sometimes roach will do this. Once a chub, hooked some 

 fifteen yards from my punt, was followed in every turn and 

 movement by another of about the same size which swam 

 close to its side, and did not leave it until the landing net was 

 about to be used. There are similar instances on record in the 

 case of trout and, I think, salmon, in which both fish have 

 been netted. 



The late Dr. Day collected a number of local names for 

 coalfish, from which I complete my incomplete list. Sillocks 

 (Scotland) ; blue-backs (Yorkshire) ; also haddock, bit, billiard, 

 black pollack, black jack, bleck, coalsey, coal whiting, colemie, 

 colmey, cooth, cuddy, dargie, gilpin, glassock, glashan, glossan, 

 glossin, green cod, green pollack, gull-fish, harbine, kuth, lob, lob- 

 keeling, moulrush, piltock, podlie, podling, prinkle, rock-salmon, 



