THE SHOALS 27 



surpasses human imagination, and that any 

 one shoal would go a long way towards supply- 

 ing the whole of man's annual consumption. 



The usual size of the East Coast herring is 

 10 to 11 inches, and its weight when full 

 about 8 or 9 ounces ; a herring 17 inches long 

 is, however, on record, but 14 or 15 inches 

 is quite an exceptional size. 



Section I.— The Herring and Its Enemies. 



The " herring "—the word can perhaps^ 

 be traced back to a Teutonic origin based on 

 "harya" = an army — a shoal; modern German, 

 "Heer " = an army — must not be confused with 

 the sprat, pilchard or whitebait. Some writers 

 wrongly regard the sprat {Clupea spratus) as an 

 early stage of the herring and of the pilchard 

 (Clupea pilchardus), from both of which it is 

 distinct in kind. Again, whitebait (Clupea alba) 

 is a definite species, not merely the young of 

 the herring.^ Shoals can be detected by the 

 presence of a whale, of dogfish, and of preda- 

 ceous aquatic birds, such as gulls, and gannets. 

 Floating on the water over or, if moved away 

 by the tide, near the shoal, is usually what is 

 known as " the spot of oil " given off by the fish. 



Whales, seals, porpoises, dogfish, cod, whit- 

 ing and aquatic birds devour myriads of 

 herring. Wilson in his " Tour Round Scotland 



* Skeat is not satisfied with this derivation. 



* For a full history of these fishes the reader should consult the 

 pages of Jonathan Couch. 



