SNAPPING MACKEREL. 157 



CHAPTER XII. 



SNAPPING MACKEREL. 



Temnodon Saltator. One of the gayest, merriest, live- 

 liest, little fish that chases and devours those smaller 

 than himself, and is chased and devoured by such as are 

 larger, is the Snapping Mackerel, the young of the pre- 

 vious species, but individualized from the voracity with 

 which he snaps at the live or dead bait. He is a beau- 

 tiful, silver-sided little fellow, weighing from an ounce 

 to half a pound, and makes his appearance in immense 

 numbers along our coast in the latter part of September 

 or fore part of October. 



" Whence he comes, 

 Whither he goes, 

 Nobody cares 

 And nobody knows." 



He must have just arrived, however, from the parents' 

 spawning ground, his diminutive size proving that he has 

 not been long out of the shell. He roams about, at first 

 in small numbers, but soon increasing to multitudes, and 

 gives active chase to the minnow and spearing, that may 

 be seen momentarily springing out of water in their 

 frantic efforts to escape his charges. He lurks in the 

 foaming water of a mill-tail or sluiceway, or in the eddy- 

 ing current of the receding tide, watching for his prey 



