of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



215 



more than G500 gurnards wore caught during the ten years, the changes 

 in the relative abundance in the various months are of the same general 

 character as in the Forth area, but there are some differences of interest. 

 The averages for each month are as follows : — 



January. February. March. April. May. June. 

 0-0 * 0-05 0-5 10-4 867 83-6 



July. August. September. October. November. December. 

 18-1 357 24-4 10'3 8-8 1*2 



We see here that the averages are comparable with those in the Forth. 

 The rise in May is relatively and absolutely far greater, and the average 

 for June is also very high, and not much under that for May. There is 

 also a rise in August and September, as at the inner group of stations of 

 the Firth of Forth. Moreover, the averages in November and December 

 are somewhat higher. Those procured in March — fifteen in number — 

 were, with one exception, all obtained in 1890 in the hauls made at the 

 end of the month, when the temperature at most of the stations was very 

 slightly higher ; and they were got at the south and eastern parts of 

 the bay (nearest the open sea), none being procured at the innermost 

 Station IV., which runs round the bay in from 5J to 7 fathoms. In 

 April, May, and June the same general distribution was shown, the 

 gurnards being most abundant at Stations I., II., and V. In July and 

 August they were, on the contrary, most numerous at Station IV., and in 

 September and October the numbers at this station nearly equalled or 

 exceeded the numbers at Stations I. or V. Much the same changes in 

 the relative abundance of the gurnards occur at the stations at Montrose 

 and Aberdeen Bays, where, however, the hauls were much fewer in 

 number. 



In the Moray Firth no hauls were made in January, February, March, 

 or December, and only one in April, principally for the reason so often 

 referred to, namely — the small size of the " Garland," most of the stations 

 lying at a considerable distance from the coast. But there are data 

 referring to all the other months of the year, and those for the inner 

 stations near the coast (I. -VI.) show much the same relative changes as 

 in the Firth of Forth and St. Andrews Bay. The number of gurnards 

 caught was over 5000. The averages for the various months are as 

 follows : — 



May. June. July. August. September. October. November. 

 21-9 21-1 13-3 211 11-4 147 17 



The highest average is thus seen to be in May ; that for June is not 

 much lower ; there is a fall in July and a rise in August, just as at the 

 inner parts of the Firth of Forth and in St. Andrews Bay ; and the 

 average for November is very small, showing that the gurnards leave the 

 inshore waters of the Moray Firth towards the end of the year. At 

 the outer stations (VII.-XVL), some of which are far from the coast and 

 in deep water, the relative abundance in the various months is different. 

 The averages are as follows : — 



May. June. July. August. October. November. 

 21-0 19-2 23-1 37-3 39-4 29-6 



Thus in May and June gurnards appear to be fairly equally distributed 

 throughout the Moray Firth generally, both at the offshore and the inshore 

 stations, although slightly more numerous at the latter. In July they 

 begin to leave the inner parts of the Firth and become more abundant in 

 the offshore waters, and especially at the intermediate stations. This 



