66 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



ring was a migratory fish, living in the Polar Seas, and making periodical 

 visits to our shores for the purpose of spawning. Few popular errors seemed 

 to have a better foundation than this. The shoals appear first at the north 

 of Scotland, where they may be found at the end of June or July. By 

 August the fish is oh" the Durham or Yorkshire coast. In September it may 

 be taken at Yarmouth, and so on until it apparently reaches the Devon and 

 Cornish Coasts by November. The shoals then appear to turn northward 

 again, heading to the Polar Seas ; for some time after Christmas, and even as 

 late as March, they are spawning on the west of Scotland. All this theory 

 about migration has been shown to be utterly unfounded, and the Herring 

 is now known to be a local fish, abiding -all the year round in its own station, 

 and said only to congregate in shoals once a year at spawning time. The North 

 Sea cannot be considered very deep in comparison with others, and is full of 

 banks of sand, some of very great extent, where the water is not more than 

 40 or 50 fathoms (240 to 300 feet) deep. The best known of these banks 

 is the Dogger, " where sailors go to fish for Cod." Between them the water 

 is very much deeper, but the Herring makes its home in the shallower water 

 upon the banks, and never frequents the deeper channels between. Herring 

 curers profess to know by the appearance of the tish from what neighbour- 

 hood they have been taken, some of the more experienced claiming to know 

 within a very few miles. If this be so, " local races " are evidently not con- 

 fined to Lepidoptera, and it is a very strong proof indeed that the Herring 

 does not migrate at all. 



The Herring ripens to spawn when the water is at a temperature of 50 to 

 55 degrees, and it is this fact that has led to the appearance of the shoals in 

 such regular succession down the coast, and to the general belief in its mi- 

 gration. The water is at the proper temperature first at the north-east of 

 Scotland, and there they first appear, and as it reaches the needed degrees else- 

 where they make their appearance and are taken by millions. On the southern 

 coast it is late in the year before the water has sufficiently cooled, while the 

 impinging of the Gulf Stream on our western shores, makes it still later 

 before they are ready to spawn there. For spawning they prefer a rocky 

 bottom, overgrown with weeds, and have been observed rubbing themselves 

 against the stones to force out the spawn. The spawn soon hatches, and many if 

 not all of the young herring make their way to the shallow waters of our shores, 

 entering docks and harbours, and even making some progress up many of the tidal 

 rivers. In this state they are called " garvies " in Scotland, and " sprats " 

 on the English coast. The " sprat" or " herring sprat " was believed to be 

 a different fish from the Herring, and is still annually taken in large quan- 

 tities, to be eaten fresh or smoked and dried. No wonder that the Herring 



