514 AMERICAN FISHES. 
another. The following is a translation of his Latin account, partly original, 
partly from Smitt’s work : — 
In the months of May, June, and July, it deposits its numerous eggs on 
the shores of bays and attaches them to sea-weed, but especially to littoral 
forms (conferve). At such times, many thousands are wont to enter the 
bays and follow along their shores. ‘The females go first in a separate 
shoal and seek out places suitable for their progeny ; the males follow and 
seek out the eggs to impregnate them with their milt. When the females 
have left the place, the bottom is so entirely covered with their eggs that it 
gleams with a yellow color; but when the males have shed their milt on 
the ova, the water is milky white, and the bottom no longer visible.” Each 
sex performs its function at night, either when the sky is clear or cloudy, 
or the atmosphere calm or stormy, but they prefer a still night and tranquil 
sea. 
