The Kingfisb 295 



The season for bonitos, on the California coast, 

 is from May until December, the midsummer 

 months being the best The largest fish I have 

 seen weighed twenty pounds, and was so power- 

 ful that it repeatedly towed the heavy boat around 

 and around, making a more desperate fight than 

 some fishes I have taken, of twice the size. The 

 average size of the bonito in these waters is 

 twelve pounds. The range of this species is very 

 wide, covering all the Pacific from San Francisco 

 to Chili, beyond and west to the shores of Japan. 

 It doubtless spawns in the open Santa Catalina 

 channel and in the vicinity of the islands; but 

 extremely young fishes have never been observed 

 here by me, though I have dredged and watched 

 the hauling of seines and nets, surface and other- 

 wise. This region is a spawning-ground for many 

 genera. The flying-fish spawns here in July, yet 

 I have never been able to secure a young one, 

 though I confess to have chased them, about the 

 size of grasshoppers, for hours with a scoop-net. 

 The little creatures, about an inch in length, 

 could " fly " or soar about a foot, and attempted 

 to take to the air as I struck at them with the 

 net. They well illustrated the ease with which 

 the young of common fishes can escape obser- 



