494 FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



ly to the annoyance of fly-fishers for trout at sundown yet 

 they affect liver. Liver is an excellent bait for almost any 

 brook fish. 



SECTION SECOND. 

 THE WHITING. Merlancjus vulgaris. 



The whiting is a delicious table-fish, found in comparative 

 plenty on the British coasts. This fish is by some thought 

 superior to all the other Gadidce. Very little is known of 

 its natural history. It deposits its spawn in March, and the 

 eggs are not long in hatching about forty days, I think, 

 varying, however, with the temperature of the season. Be- 

 fore and after shedding its milt or roe, the whiting is out of 

 condition, and should not be taken for a couple of months. 

 The whiting prefers a sandy bottom, and is usually found a 

 few miles from shore, its food being much the same as that 

 of other fishes of the family to which it belongs. It is a 

 smallish fish, usually about twelve inches long, and, on the 

 average, two pounds in weight. J. G. BERTRAM. 



WHITING, OF NEWPORT, EHODE ISLAND. 



This fish is of very recent discovery on the American 

 coast; and as usual, in reference to rare fishes, I first saw it 

 at Sutherland's restaurant, in Liberty Street. It is very del- 

 icate, precisely like the whiting of England, and generally 

 taken with a deep-sea trawl about six miles seaward from the 

 Newport shores. It is to be hoped that so great a luxury 

 will be more generally sought for, and soon be so cheapened 

 by abundance as to become a commercial fish. The fish is 

 white-meated, and silver-white below the lateral line, and 



