A. E. Verrill — North American Cephalopods. 283 
fishes could be caught. Sometimes, after making several unsuccess- 
ful attempts, one of the squids would suddenly drop to the bottom, 
and, resting upon the sand, would change its color to that of the sand 
so perfectly as to be almost invisible. In this position it would wait 
until the fishes came back, and when they were swimming close to or 
over the ambuscade, the squid, by a sudden dart, would be pretty 
sure to secure a fish. Ordinarily, when swimming, they were thickly 
spotted with red and brown, but when darting among the mackerel 
they appeai’ed translucent and pale. The mackerel, however, seemed 
to have learned that the shallow water was the safest for them, and 
would hug the shore as closely as possible, so that in 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 enei’gy, and this usually foi-ces them farther and 
farther up the beach. At such times they often discharge their ink 
in large quantities. The attacks on the young mackerel wei’e ob- 
sexwed mostly at or near high-water, for at other times the mackerel 
were seldom seen, though the squids wei’e seen swimming about at 
all hours ; and these attacks were obsexwed both in the day and 
evening. 
It is probable, from various observations, that this and other 
species of squids are partially nocturnal in their habits, or at least are 
moi’e active in the night than in the day. Those that ax*e caught in 
the pounds and weirs mostly enter in the night, evidently while swim- 
ming along the shores in ‘ schools.’ They often get aground on the 
sand-flats at Provincetown, Massachusetts, in the night. On the 
islands in the Bay of Fundy, even where there are no flats, I have 
often found them in the morning, stranded on the beaches 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 backwai’ds, they get ashoi-e on the beaches 
opposite the position of the moon. This habit is also sometimes 
taken advantage of by the fishermen, who capture them for bait for 
cod-fish ; they go out in dark nights with toi-ches in their boats, and 
by advancing slowly toward a beach, drive them ashore. 
They are taken in large quantities in nets and pounds, and also by 
means of ‘jigs ’ thrown at random into the ‘schools’ and quickly 
drawn through them. They are also sometimes taken by lines, ad- 
hering to the bait used for fishes. 
Trans. Conn. Acad., Yol. V. 35 January, 1881. 
