114 FISH. 



seizing the hook immediately they see it; they are 

 usually fished for with hand lines by whiffing. 

 They spawn in the winter close to the shore, and 

 the young ones are in such abundance just on the 

 edge of the tide on rocky ground, that many 

 basketsful are often caught during an afternoon ; 

 they are usually small, but are very nice when 

 fried like whiting : they can often be seen of a 

 summer evening in full chase of the sand launce, 

 making springs out of the water in their efforts to 

 overtake them ; they are from two to three feet 

 long when full grown. 



THE COALFISH. 



Merlangus carlonarius, Cuvier. 

 Gadtis Linnaeus. 



The coalfish is usually considered to be a nor- 

 thern fish, but is also found well to the south- 

 ward ; it has been taken on the shores of Spitzber- 

 gen, and the young, four or five inches in length, 

 have been taken in Davis's Strait in the trawl-nets. 



