OMMATOSTREPHIDiE. 35 



pursuing them many of the squids became stranded, and perished 

 by hundreds, for when they once touch the shore, they begin to 

 pump water from their siphons with great energy, and this usuall}^ 

 forces them farther and farther up the beach. At such times 

 they usuall_y discharge their ink in large quantities. The attacks 

 on the 3^ouug mackerel were observed mostly at or near high 

 water, for at other times the mackerel were seldom seen, though 

 the squids were seen swimming about at all hours ; and these 

 attacks were observed both in the day and evening. But it is 

 probable, from various observations, that this and the other 

 species of squ,ids are partially nocturnal in their habits, or at 

 least are more active in the night than in the day. Those that 

 are caught in the pounds and weirs mostly enter in the night, 

 and evidentl}^ when swimming along the shore in schools. They 

 are often found in the morning stranded on the beach in immense 

 numbers, especially when there is a full moon, and it is thought 

 by many of the fishermen that this is because, like many other 

 nocturnal animals, they have the habit of turning toward and 

 gazing at a bright light, and since they swim backwards, they 

 get ashore on the beaches opposite the position of the moon. 

 This habit is also sometimes taken advantage of by the fisher- 

 men who capture them for bait for cod-fish ; they go out in dark 

 nights with torches in their boats, and by advancing slowly toward 

 a beach, drive them ashore. — Yerrill. Report of U. S. Fish 

 Commissioner for 1873, 441. 



The following notice of the Squid of the Newfoundland Banks 

 in its relation to the American Grand Bank Cod Fisheries, is 

 condensed from a paper by H. L. Osborn in Am. Naturalist, xv, 

 366, 1881. 



The bait used in the latter part of the year is the squid 

 Ommatostrephes illecebrosa. It first appears on the southern 

 points of Newfoundland late in June or early in July. The 

 natives and fishermen agree in opinion that the squid migrates 

 steadily northward during the season, appearing first in the 

 northern harbors two weeks later than in the southern, and finally 

 lingering at northern points in the island after they have entirely 

 disappeared from those further south. 



The sole mode of capture of the squid is called "jigging," a 

 term derived from and descriptive of the process. The only 

 gear is a peculiar hook with a couple of fathoms of mackerel line. 

 No bait is employed. The jig is of lead, two inches or there- 

 abouts in length, armed at its base with sharply pointed unbarbed 

 pins, radially arranged, and curving upward and outward. The 

 jigging is conducted in water of from eight to ten feet, usvially 

 from small boats, but occasionally from the vessel's side. The 

 jig is allowed to sink nearly to the bottom, where it is kept con- 

 stantly vibrating up and down, till the squid is felt upon it. 



