THE HERRING AND ITS KINDRED 
263 
and rocks, it is improbable that even the trawl troubles the eggs to any appreciable extent, 
as the stony ground on which the herrings generally spawn is not suited to the operations 
of the trawler. The spawning and life-history of the herring are, in fact, the converse 
of those of the plaice. The former deposits its eggs on the ground close inshore, and the 
3mung herrings, almost as soon as they are hatched, steer for the open sea and live near 
the surface of the water. The flat-fishes, on the other hand, deposit eggs that float at the 
surface some distance from the shore; and the young plaice and soles, when hatched, come 
inshore and take up their residence close to the bed of the sea. 
' It would be improper to conclude this account of the Herring Family without a passing 
reference to the commercial mixture known as “ Whitebait.” Until comparatively late in the 
I 
FMoifi by SavilU-K«nt^ F.Z»S.‘\ ^Milford-tn-^ea 
AUSTRALIAN PILCHARDS 
Distinct from the British species 
last century whitebait was regarded, even by scientific men, as a distinct species, and there 
were even some who declared that they had identified peculiar characters. It is now, however, 
common knowledge that the so-called “ whitebait” is neither more nor less than a mixture 
of young herrings and sprats, the former predominating in summer, the latter in winter. 
Other fishes are also found in the dish, and, appropriately enough, at a recent banquet 
given by the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, at which the writer had the pleasure 
of “ assisting,” a plate of whitebait was found to include no sprats, but the fry of 
herrings, gurnards, and sand-eels: this was in the month of July. Whitebait are caught 
in special fine-meshed nets in river-estuaries; and although they make a capital dish for 
the epicure, the large supplies needed for the restaurants probably entail a most regrettable 
sacrifice of valuable food-fishes, which, if left a year or two, would provide food for ten 
times the number of consumers. It would, however, be too much to expect that epicures 
should give up such an unrivalled dish for this cause. Moreover, if these little fishes were 
not captured by man, it is highly probable that a large proportion would fall victims to birds 
or other fishes. 
