THE HERRING. 25? 



Exposed to persecution Principal food. 



ing whole fleets in quest of them into the open 

 sea. A species of the whale destroys them by 

 thousands. The birds likewise dart upon num- 

 bers of them when near the surface of the water, 

 and indicate to the fisherman those places where 

 he may throw out his nets with a prospect of 

 success. 



The herring, however, which is so frequently 

 exposed to the voracity of other animals, belongs 

 itself to the class of voracious fish. Its principal 

 food consists of small crabs. Neucrantz found 

 in its stomach several that were but half digest- 

 ed. The herring is likewise fond of worms, 

 and the Norwegian fishermen frequently find its 

 stomach full of small lobsters. When this is the 

 case, the fish is commonly thought to have some 

 disease, in consequence of the tendency to spoil 

 before it is salted. The method to prevent this 

 accident, is to leave the fish in water for some 

 time, till the food in the stomach be entirely 

 digested. They are likewise supposed to feed on 

 a crustaceous sea insect called oniseus marinus; 

 and, as they may be caught with an artificial fly, 

 it appears that they sometimes seize winged in- 

 sects. 



This fish may be removed into waters which it 

 has not been accustomed to frequent, as has 

 been successfully tried in Sweden. The removal 

 of the spawn alone is sufficient to produce this 

 effect, as may be seen by a passage in Kalm's 

 Travels. " Franklin," says that author, " related 



VOL. v. wo. 36. <& K 



