TAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH. 291 
drifted upon the beach at Block Island, and along the southern shores of 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and a similar catastrophe took place in 
1841. In March, 1875, it is stated that as much as aton was thrown 
ashore in the drift ice at Cuttyhunk. They were seen floating by the Hen 
and Chickens light-ship for three successive days. In Southern New 
England they become torpid in November and December. It is stated 
that they are sometimes caught as late as Christmas. It is probable that 
many do not enter upon a state of complete torpidity, but remain in a par- 
tially active state in deep holes not far from the shore, and that it is these, 
rather than the hibernating individuals, which are especially liable to 
injury from the cold. A few are taken in Rhode Island in midwinter, 
both by line and in lobster-pots. North of Cape Cod they are rarely 
taken except in summer,* while towards the southern limit of their range 
they are apparently as abundant in winter as at any other time. Mr. 
Nathan King, a Rhode Island fisherman, states that when the sun is very 
hot the Tautog leaves the clear spots for shelter among the weeds and 
rocks. 
As may be inferred from its haunts and from the character of its strong, 
sharp teeth, the Tautog’s food consists of the hard-shelled mollusks and 
crustaceans which are so abundant among the rocks. In their stomachs 
have been found, among other things, lobsters, crabs of various species, 
clams, mollusks, squids, scollops, barnacles, and sand-dollars. Many of 
the smaller mollusks they swallow, shells and all, ejecting the hard parts 
after the flesh has been digested. The common bait for Tautog in the 
spring is the clam, preferably the soft clam, for at this time the fishermen 
say they have tender mouths. In the fall, crabs and lobsters are’ used, 
the fiddler-crab and rock-crab being the favorites. They are sometimes 
taken with a bait of marine worms. 
In Narragansett Bay and vicinity they spawn from the end of April 
until August. 
The pound fishermen find them to be full of ripe eggs when they begin 
to approach the shore in earlysummer. Mr. Christopher E. Dyer, of New 
Bedford, has witnessed the operation of spawning in Buzzard’s Bay in the 
middle of June, in water about two fathoms deep. This was in 1859 or 
1860, about two miles east of Seconnet Point. The number of eggs has 
not yet been determined, nor is it known how long the period of incuba- 
*The first of the season were taken at Gloucester, May 13, 1881. 
