HABITS OF THE HERRING IN THE SEA. 23 



and not the Balcena mysticetits, or common whale, which 

 has been hitherto erroneously supposed by many to feed 

 on the herring. 



It is not usual, or often, that such appearances of 

 whales accompanied by aquatic birds pursuing or preying 

 on the herring, occur on our coasts ; but such a scene, as 

 occurs so commonly on the coasts of Norway, is sometimes 

 seen on our own. For instance, in the bay of Cromarty, 

 in 1780, a large shoal of herrings appeared, accompanied 

 with vast numbers of whales and porpoises beating the 

 water into a foam for several miles, giving it the appear- 

 ance as if ruffled by the sudden land squalls which blackon 

 the surface. Another season, in autumn, the bay of Cro- 

 marty appeared as if its countless waA^es were covered 

 with fish and birds ; no fewer than seven whales were 

 seen within the short distance of half-a-mile, some of 

 them apparently sixty feet in length, and when they 

 spouted, the water thrown up was mingled with fishes, 

 which had a brilliant effect in the sunshine (see descrip- 

 tion of Moray Firth Herring Fishery, by the late Hugh 

 Miller). And again, in the year 1816, on the coast near 

 Fraserburgh, a shoal of herrings, which afforded a rich 

 harvest to the fishermen, was accompanied or pursued by 

 about 100 whales of various sizes, which remained seven 

 days, namely, from the 24th to 30th August, in the same 

 locality, accompanied by numbers of aquatic birds. This 

 unusual sight was observed from Kinnaird's Head by 

 many of the principal inhabitants. The herrings were of 

 a good size, about the size of the eighth class, were full of 

 milt and roe, and considered by the fish-curers then at 

 Fraserburgh to be of very superior quality. 



On the different coasts, and in many of the bays where 

 the herring resorts, there are sometimes, to a smaller ex- 



