PERIODICITY OF THE BLUEFISH. 437 



of 1837 it was first noticed iu Massachusetts Bay ; and then year by year it became more and more 

 numerous, until now it is very abundant. Several accounts agree in reference to the very lurge 

 size (even to forty or fifty pounds) of those taken in the last century. 



" Further research into ancient records may tend to throw more light on the early history of 

 the Bluefish, and even materially to change the conclusions already reached. It will be observed 

 that the references to its occurrence, from L780 to 1800, are on the testimony of aged persons who 

 have heard their fathers speak of it, although I find no printed records anywhere in reference to 

 it between 1764 and 1810. The ratei of progression to the nortli ot Cape Cod I have at present no 

 means of indicating, although they probably gradually extended farther and farther north, and 

 may possibly occur much farther east than we have any mention of at present. 



"During the present century the maximum of abundance of these fish off the middle coast of 

 the United States appears to have been reached from 1850 to 1860. The testimony elicited from 

 various parties, as well as from printed records, indicates a decrease since that period much greater 

 in some localities than others. About New York they are said to have been unusually plenty in 

 the summer of L871, but farther East the diminution which had been observed in previous years 

 appeared to continue." 



Since the writing of the above, in 1871, there has been no special change in the abundance of 

 Bluefish. They are quite sufficient in number to supply the demand for them and to make great 

 inroads upon the other fishes, some of which, like the menhaden and mackerel, would perhaps, if 

 undisturbed by the Bluettsh, be more valuable than they are at present. They have now been 

 with us for fifty years. Their numbers are subject to periodical variation, of the cause of which 

 we are ignorant. It is to be regretted that there are no records of it in the South Atlantic States. 

 If such existed, we might, perhaps, learn from them that the Bluefish remained in those waters 

 while absent from the northern coasts. Only one statement is to be found which covers this 

 period, although Lawson, iu his " History of North Carolina," published in 1709, and Oatesby, in 

 his "Natural History of the Carolinas," published in 1743, refer to its presence. In "Bartram's 

 Travels," published in 1791, "Skipjack" is mentioned as one of the most abundant fish at the 

 mouth of the Saint John's Elver. When Bluefish again became abundant their presence was first 

 noticed at the South, and they seem to have made their inroads from that direction. The Bluefish 

 was unknown to Schoepf, if we may judge from his work on the " Fisheries of New York," published 

 in 1787. Dr. Mitchill recorded their frequent capture about New York in 1814, though before 1810 

 they are said to be unknown in that locality. In 1825 they were abundant here, and in 1841 

 immense numbers were captured in the Vineyard Sound, and about Nantucket they were on the 

 increase from 1820 to 1830. It is certain that they had not reappeared in 1822 in Narragansett 

 Bay, for in "Bertram's Travels" it is stated that, though formerly abundant, they had not been 

 seen in that region since the time of the Eevolution. 



The first one which was noticed north of Cape Cod was captured in October, 1837, while we 

 have no record of their appearance about Cape Ann before 1847. 



Food and voracity. — The Bluefish is a carnivorous animal of the most pronounced type, 

 feeding solely upon other fish. In this connection it cannot be out of place to reprint Professor 

 Baird's remarks upon this subject, which have been so often quoted during the past ten years : 



"There is no parallel in point of destructiveness to the Bluefish among the marine species on 

 our coast, whatever may be the case among some of the carnivorous fish of the South American 

 waters. The Bluefish has been well likened to an animated chopping-machine, the business of 

 which is to cut to pieces and otherwise destroy as many fish as possible in a given space of time. 

 All writers are unanimous in regard to the destructiveness of the Bluefish. Going in large schools, 



