Class IV. HADOCK COD FISH. 243 



proving till the time of their greatest perfection. 

 The small ones are extremely good from May 

 till February, and some even in February, 

 March) and April, viz. those which are not old 

 enough to breed. The fishermen assert, that in 

 rough weather hadocks sink down into the sand 

 and ooze in the bottom of the sea, and shelter 

 themselves there till the storm is over, because 

 in stormy weather they take none, and those 

 that are taken immediately after a storm are 

 covered with mud on their backs. In summer Food. 

 they live on young herrings and other small fish ; 

 in winter on the stone-coated worms, * which 

 the fishermen call hadock meat. 



The grand shoal of hadocks comes periodi- Vast 

 cally on the Yorkshire coasts. It is remarkable 

 that they appeared in 1766 on the 10th of De- 

 cember, and exactly on the same day in 1767: 

 these shoals extended from the shore near three 

 miles in breadth, and in length from Flambo- 

 rough head to Tinmouth castle, and perhaps 

 much farther northwards. An idea may be 

 given of their numbers by the following fact : 

 Three fishermen, within the distance of a mile 

 from Scarborough harbour, frequently loaded 

 their coble or boat with them twice a-day, taking 

 each time about a ton of fish : when they put 



* A species of Serpula. 



R 2 



Shoals. 



