FOUND IN THE FRITH OF FORTH. 545 



herring This, however, is a mistake : it has 

 been known to bite at an artificial fly ; and when 

 in Shetland, in 1804, I met with people who had 

 occasionally taken herrings, when fishing for pil- 

 iocks, or coal-fish, with limpet-bait. 



C. Pilcbardus* Pilchard; Pilcher ; Gypsey -her- 

 ring. 



Pilchards come into the Frith chiefly at the 

 head of the annual shoal of herrings, and they are 

 seldom seen in our market after October. 



C. Sprattas. Sprat ; Garvie-herring. 



It is a prevalent opinion among the fishermen 

 of Newhaven, that this is nothing else than the 

 young of the common herring. It is certainly not 

 easy to point out invariable marks of discrimina- 

 tion ; for the serratures in the abdomen of the 

 sprat are less marked in the larger specimens, and 

 might be supposed to become obliterated in the 

 full-grown fish. A surer criterion of distinction 

 may be found in the relative position of the dor- 

 sal and ventral fins : if a straight line be dropped 

 from the forepart of the dorsal-fin perpendicular- 

 ly downwards, it will, in the true herring, fall a 

 little in front of the ventral fins ; but, in the gar- 

 vie, it will fall a little behind the same fins. Gar- 



m m 



* Mr Skrimshire's " Essays," 



