THE BLUE FISH. 
*53 
his work on the “Fishes of New York,” published in 1787. Dr. 
Mitchill recorded their frequent capture about New York in 1814, though 
before 1810 they are said to have been unknown there. In 1825 they 
were very abundant and in 1841 immense numbers were captured in the 
Vineyard Sound, while about Nantucket they were on the increase from 
1820 to 1830. It is certain that they had not reappeared in 1822 in Nar- 
ragansett Bay, for in “Dwight’s Travels,” it is stated that, though 
formerly abundant, they had not been seen in that region since the time 
of the Revolution. 
The first one which was noticed north of Cape Cod was captured in 
October 1837, though we have no record of their appearance about Cape 
Ann before 1847. 
The Bluefish is a carnivorous animal of the most pronounced type, feed¬ 
ing solely upon other fish. Prof. Baird remarks : 
“ There is no parallel in point of destructiveness to the Bluefish among 
the marine species on our coast, whatever may be the case among some of 
the carnivorous fish of the South American waters. The Bluefish has been 
well likened to an animated chopping-machine, the business of which is 
to cut to pieces and otherwise destroy as many fish as possible in a given 
space of time. All writers are unanimous in regard to the destructiveness 
of the Bluefish. Going in large schools, in pursuit of fish not much 
inferior to themselves in size, they move along like a pack of hungry 
wolves, destroying everything before them. Their trail is marked by 
fragments of fish and by the stain of blood in the sea, as, where the fish is 
too large to be swallowed entire, the hinder portion will be bitten off and 
the anterior part allowed to float away or sink. It is even maintained, 
with great earnestness, that such is the gluttony of the fish, that when the 
stomach becomes full the contents are disgorged and then again filled. It 
is certain that it kills many more fish than it requires for its own support. 
“The youngest fish, equally with the older, perform this function of 
destruction, and although they occasionally devour crabs, worms, etc., the 
bulk of their sustenance throughout the greater part of the year is derived 
from other fish. Nothing is more common than to find a small Bluefish 
of six or eight inches in length under a school of minnows making con¬ 
tinual dashes and captures among them. The stomachs of the Bluefish of 
all sizes, with rare exceptions, are found loaded with the other fish, some¬ 
times to the number of thirty or forty, either entire or in fragments. 
