104 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
schools working in as fast as they arrive. By the ist of June the ( run ’ 
is over, and the fish are believed to have all come in. When once inside, 
the schools break up into small squads, which proceed to the weedy bot¬ 
toms of the bayous and to the heads of the bays. About the river mouths, 
where the water is brackish, and even in fresh water, they are found 
through the summer. While at sea their color is light, and they are so 
thin in flesh that they are far from desirable as food. In the bays they 
become very fat and their colors are much darker. In September spawn 
is found in them in a half developed state. In October and November 
they again form in schools and are observed moving out of the inlets to 
the sea. They do not leave the coast immediately, but follow the beach 
for some days. At this time they contain spawn which I should think to 
be three-fourths developed. Many reliable fishermen here have observed 
that the Red Fish go to sea with spawn in them.” 
S. C. Clarke has observed their habits in the Indian River region, and 
says: “They enter the rivers and creeks from the sea. The young fish 
are here all the time. The adults leave the shore in a body when done 
spawning. They are first seen off the coast in January and February, 
and remain in the rivers until late in the spring. The males and females 
swim together, frequenting localities on shoals and sand-banks, where the 
water is from one to four feet deep and warm. After spawning they scat¬ 
ter. They begin to breed in August and September in the shallow bays 
and inlets, at which time both sexes are poor and unfit for food. The 
spawn is small, brown, about as large as No. 5 shot, and floats. The 
young are found abundantly in the creeks and bays. 
I have been told by fishermen on the St. John’s that in November, 
when schooling begins, the fish are full-roed, but that in December the 
eggs have all been spent. 
I have never found the young in the north less than ten inches long, 
but, in Pensacola Bay, Jordan and Stearns secured numerous young in the 
seine in April, the smallest measuring two and a half inches. Jordan 
supposes that they spawn in water of no great depth. They swim in 
scattered schools at times, probably in the spawning season, and they may 
occasionally spring above the surface while feeding. At this time the fish 
are taken in large gill-nets, which are set around them by the fishermen. 
The food consists chiefly of the crustaceans and small fish with which 
Southern waters are filled. It undoubtedly gathers much food from the 
