GREA T BRITAIN. 165 



Habits. The hake is a bold and ravenous fish, a great 

 wanderer, and rather uncertain in its movements, which 

 seem to be sometimes due to being chased by sharks, 

 porpoises, and other voracious inhabitants of the deep. 

 Seasons, and the presence or absence of food, likewise 

 affect the localities wherein it lives ; thus during the 

 summer it is often taken in bays, but in the winter more 

 commonly in deep waters. It accompanies shoals of 

 herrings and pilchards, on which it feeds, and Couch 

 alludes to seventeen of the latter having been taken from 

 the stomach of one of these fishes. Although present all 

 the year round, it is in the autumn and winter months that 

 the largest takes are made. At the end of January, or in 

 February, they begin to go off their feed, due to spawning. 

 In Donegal Bay hake-fishing commences in the month of 

 September. In Devonshire, and along the south-west coast, 

 this fish takes the place of the cod of the more northern 

 counties. 



Means of capture. Line-fishing by night-time in mid- 

 water, or beam-trawling during the day at the bottom, by 

 which latter method some are also captured throughout 

 the year. So common are they in certain seasons, that 

 Couch mentions 4000 having been landed in one day in 

 Mount's Bay; and on another occasion noo were taken 

 by one boat in two nights. 



Baits. In some localities a slice from one of its own 

 kind is found to be a good bait, but any that are suitable 

 for the cod may be employed. 



Breeding. In the spring months, but may be delayed in 

 cold seasons. Thus Couch remarks that in 1837 spawning 

 in Cornwall was not accomplished until August. One, 

 12 Ibs. weight, containing 15^-07. of roe, was landed at 

 Mevagissey the last week in February, 1882, the number 



iviev; 



