FOOD OF THE MACKEREL. 291 



In an interview with Capt. King Hardiag, of Swampscott, one of the most experienced mackerel 

 catchers on our coasts, I obtained the following amusing observations : He described one kind 

 of crustacean Mackerel food which looked like spiders, which were red, and crawled over his hand 

 when he took them up. They look like little spiders; the Mackerel are especially fond of them. 

 At Boone Island, Maine, in July, 1850, the water all around the island was red for one hundred 

 yards from the shore; these crawled up the rock-weed on the shore until it was red. He took the 

 sprays of rock- weed in his hands and pulled them slowly to him, and the Mackerel, one and a half 

 pound fish, would foUow in quite to the rocks. He killed three with his oar, and tried to catch 

 some in a basket by tolling them over it, but they were too quick for him. He asked his old 

 skipper, Capt. Gorham Babson, what they were, and was told that they were " Boone Island bed- 

 bugs." And, said he, " Young man, when you see this kind of bait, no matter if you don't see 

 any fish, never leave ; the fish will be there in a few days." 



Then there is another kind, called " snappers." These are white, and dart rapidly about in 

 the water ; they are doubtless small crustaceans. He says that sometimes they swim at the sur- 

 face, where the Mackerel follow them. A few days before he had been standing on the stern of his 

 vessel, and though he could see nothing under the water he knew the snappers were there about 

 two feet below the surface, for he could see a school of Mackerel swimming along, opening their 

 mouths and taking in their food, and then letting the water out through their gills. 



When the Mackerel are tolled up from twelve or fifteen fathoms below the surface their 

 stomachs are often full of bait ; so it is certain that these little animals swim at all depths. 



Another kind of food is red, and is hot to the hands. This is called "Cayenne"; it spoils 

 the fish. 



Years ago, according to Captain Harding, Mackerel did not school as they do now. 



When you see pollock jumping near the shore, it is a pretty good sign that there is plenty of 

 mackerel food. 



The presence of abundance of mackerel food is indicated by the great schools of sea-birds, 

 parti(rularly by the flocks of phalaropes, or sea-geese, as the fishermen call them, which congregate 

 together, floating upon the water, and when seen in summer give a sure sign of the presence of 

 Mackerel also. 



The various invertebrate animals preyed upon by Mackerel are known to the fishermen by 

 such names as "shrimp," "red-seed," and "Cayenne." 



"The wide-spread distribution from shore seaward of the Thysanopoda and other minute Crus- 

 tacea, which constitute to so great an extent the food of the Mackerel and herring on our shores, 

 was proved," writes Professor Baird, "during a trip of the 'Speedwell' from Salem to Halifax in 

 1877." At numerous points and at regular intervals on the way across, including the middle of 

 the route, immense numbers of these shrimp were met' with and collected by the towing net. They 

 were found in especial abundance at Le Have Bank. These prove to be specifically identical with 

 those found in immense quantities in Eastport Harbor at the surface. 



" That these same animals occur at least as far east as the Gulf Stream is shown by the list 

 of the collections made by Professor Smith off the Georges near the edge of the Gulf Stream, 

 and published in the Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. iii, 

 July, 1874." 



Capt. Stephen Mar, of Gloucester, confirms the statements of Captain Harding regarding 

 the effects of " red-seed" upon Mackerel ; he states that when Mackerel are feeding on " red-seed" 

 the fishermen have great trouble in keeping them sufficiently long to dress them properly. Their 

 bellies soften at once. When the weather is good and dogfish are not troublesome, the common 



