FISHES OF NFW YOKK ' 207 



Hessel siu-ceeded in reariiij^ shad on the 1) a p h n i a and 

 Cyclops to a length of 3 or 4 inches, and one time, when 

 they had access surreptitiously to an abundant supply of young 

 carp, well fed individuals reached a length of 6 inches by the 

 first of November. Shad have been kept at the central station 

 of the U. S. Fish Commission over the winter, but at the age 

 of one year, doubtless for lack of sufficient food, the largest 

 was less than 4 inches long. At this age they were seen to 

 capture smaller shad of the season of 1891, which were an inch 

 or more in length. The commissioner of fisheries detected 

 young shad also in the act of eating young California salmon; 

 and on one occasion found an undigested minnow, 2 or 3 inches 

 long, in the stomach of a large shad; and they have been caught 

 with minnows for bait. The principal growth of the shad takes 

 place at sea, and, when the species enters the fresh waters 

 for the purpose of spawning, it ceases to feed, but will some- 

 times take the artificial fly and live minnows. The migratory 

 habit of the shad has already been referred to. The spawning 

 habits have been thus described by Marshall McDonald. 



The favorite spawning grounds are on sandy flats bordering 

 streams and on sand bars. The fish appear to associate in 

 pairs, usually between sundown and 11 p. m. When in the act 

 of spawning they swim close together near the surface, their 

 dorsal fins projecting above the water and their movements 

 producing a sound which the fishermen call " washing." The 

 eggs are expressed by the female while in rapid motion; the 

 male following close and ejecting his milt at the same time. 

 Such of the eggs as come in contact with the milt are impreg- 

 nated, but the greater portion of them are carried away by the 

 current or destroyed by spawn-eating fishes. After impregna- 

 tion the egg sinks to the bottom, and under favorable conditions 

 develops in from three to eight days. 



According to Seth Green, the embryo shad swim as soon 

 as they break the shell, and make their w^ay to the 

 middle of the stream, where they are comparatively sate 

 from predaceous fishes. A mature female shad of 4 or 

 5 pounds contains about 25,000 eggs on the average,, but as 

 many as 60,000 have been obtained from a 6 pound fish, and 



