328 FISHES OF THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 



ties in the months of June and July, but remain there 

 disregarded, as their value as a dainty morsel does not ap- 

 pear to be known in that quarter. The principal food of the 

 whitebait seems to be a very minute species of shrimp, which 

 is scarcely larger than a moderate sized flea. 



The Whitebait, four inches long, differs from the her- 

 ring, sprat, and pilchard, of the same length, in the follow- 

 ing characters : — 



The herring has the dorsal fin placed half-way between 

 the point of the upper jaw and the end of the long caudal 

 rays, with the head nearly one-fifth the entire length of the 

 fish. The whitebait has the dorsal fin much nearer the tip 

 of the tail than to the point of the upper jaw, with the head 

 exactly one-fourth the length of the whole fish ; the body is 

 more compressed, of a much lighter colour, and the belly much 

 rougher under the pectorals, than is observed in the herring. 



The sprat has the origin of the ventral fins situated an- 

 terior to a vertical line dropped from the first dorsal ray, 

 with forty-eight vertebrae ; the whitebait has fifty-six verte- 

 bras, with the origin of the ventrals placed behind the third 

 ray of the dorsal. In the pilchard, the dorsal fin is placed 

 exactly in the centre of gravity ; in the whitebait it is much 

 behind that point. 



The following is the mode adopted at Greenwich in the 

 cooking of whitebait : — Take a quantity of whitebait, put 

 them on a napkin and throw a handful of fine flour with 

 a little salt over them ; roll them about, by laying hold of op- 

 posite sides of the cloth, until they become well covered with 

 the flour. A capacious pot of boiling hot lard being ready, the 

 fish are to be taken up in successive portions by a skellet and 

 thrown into the lard, from which they are to be removed to 

 the dish for the table the instant they have acquired a pale 

 straw colour. 



