TAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH. 289 
already referred to, and in 1776 it was stated by Schoepf that it was very 
abundant in summer at New York. It is in greatest abundance between 
the southern angle of Cape Cod and the Capes of Delaware, which would 
indicate that within these limits, at least, the species has always existed. 
The waters of Long Island Sound and those immediately adjoining seem 
especially well adapted for its residence. 
Mitchill, writing in 1814, remarked : “The Tautog was not originally 
known in Massachusetts Bay; but within a few years he has been carried 
beyond Cape Cod, and has multiplied so abundantly that the Boston mar¬ 
ket has now a full supply without the necessity of importing from Newport 
and Providence.” This statement is confirmed, in a way, by Mr. Isaac 
Hinkley, of Philadelphia, who tells me that in 1824, he saw several indi 
viduals from Cohasset Rocks, Jerusalem Road, Mass., and that the fish was 
at that time said by the fishermen to be entirely new to them. Storer, 
writing about 1867, remarked: “Although a few years only has passed 
since this species was brought into Massachusetts Bay, it is now taken 
along a large portion of the coast. At Plymouth, Nahant, and Lynn, at 
some seasons, it is found in considerable numbers, and is frequently caught 
from the bridges leading from Boston. The Boston market is for the most 
part supplied by Plymouth and Wellfleet.” As early as 1851, they had 
spread northward to the Bay of Fundy, and in that year it is stated that 
many were sold in the fish market at St. John, the largest of which weighed 
eight pounds ; Mr. Lanman wrote that he obtained there in July and 
August specimens nineteen inches long, and weighing four pounds. 
The rocky shores of Cape Ann seem particularly well adapted to its 
peculiar habits, and large numbers are annually obtained from the Rocks. 
So long has it been acclimated, and so well known is it, that the local 
authorities of that region are inclined to doubt that it is not native. The 
“Gloucester Telegraph” of May 5, i860, challenged the statement 
that the Tautog was a new fish, declaring that many years ago they were 
very plenty, and that after a period of scarcity they reappeared. So 
abundant had they become in 1836 in the harbor of Wellfleet, Mass., that 
three Connecticut smacks were accustomed summer after summer to devote 
their entire energies to their capture in this locality, and this fishery has 
continued up to the present clay. In sandy localities, like the harbor of 
Provincetown, they have never secured a firm hold, though large specimens 
are sometimes taken under the wharves. 
