THE HERRING. 
187 
hi the sand or mudj and it is so uctive, that it frequently 
escapes, by leaping out of the fishermen’s nets. The head 
is almost square, and is flat at the top. It has no teeth 
only in the upper lip is a small roughness. The tail is 
much forked. The colour of the back is dusky, marked 
with blue and green. The sides silvery, marked with dusky 
lines, reaching from the head to the tail. The belly is 
silvery. 
Of the Flying Fish so much has been said under the 
article dorado, that it is only necessary in this place to add 
a short description of it. 
The body of this fish is oblong ; the head is almost three- 
cornered; the fin covering the gills with ten rays; the pec- 
toral fins placed high, and as long as the whole body ; the 
back fin at the extremity of the back. The tail is bifurcated. 
The Herring is a fish too well known to require a de- 
scription. The genus includes, however, some species less 
generally diffused, such as the pilchard, the shad, the an- 
chovy, &c. 
The Pilchard is thicker ana rounder than the herring. 
The nose is shorter in proportion, and turns up. The back 
is more elevated, the belly less sharp. The back fin of the 
pilchard is placed exactly in the centre of gravity, so that 
when taken up by it, the fish exactly preserves an equili- 
brium, whereas that of the herring dips at the head. The 
scales of the pilchard adhere very closely, whereas those of 
the herring very easily drop off. The pilchard is in general 
less than the herring, and is fatter and fuller of oil. 
Of all the migrating fish, the herring and the pilchard 
take the most adventurous voyages. Herrings are found in 
the greatest abundance in the highest northern latitudes. 
In those inaccessible seas, that are covered with ice for a 
great part of the year, the herring and pilchard find a quiet 
and sure retreat from all their numerous enemies : thither 
neither man, nor their still more destructive enemy, the fin- 
fish, or the cachalot, dares to pursue them. The quantity 
of insect food which those seas supply, is very great; 
whence, in that remote situation, defended by the icy rigour 
of the climate, they live at case, and multiply beyond^ex- 
pression. From this most desirable retreat Anderson sup- 
poses they would never depart, but that their numbers 
render it necessary for them to migrate : and, as bees from 
a hive, they are compelled to seek for ether retreats. 
For this reason, the great colony is seen to set out irom 
the icy sea about the middle of winter ; composed of such 
