400 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
Pacific coast, have resulted in the colonization of this species in all the 
rivers of the Pacific slope, from the Sacramento to Puget Sound. 
The Shad make their first appearance in the St. John’s River about the 
middle of November, the height of their spawning season in that river 
being about the ist of April. In the Savannah River they appear early in 
January, and in the Neuse River at a period not much later than in the 
Savannah. In the Albemarle the important Shad seine-fisheries begin 
early in March, but doubtless the fish are in the Sound some time before 
that date ; not, however, in numbers sufficient to 1 -justify the great expenses 
attendant upon the operation of these large seines. In the Chesapeake 
Bay they make their appearance in February, although the height of the 
fishing season in its waters is during April and May, and at a date some¬ 
what later in the more northern tributaries. In the Delaware, Connecticut, 
Merrimac, and St. John (Nova Scotia) Rivers, Shad are first seen at periods 
successively later as we proceed farther north. The date of their first ap¬ 
pearance in any of these waters, however, varies from season to season, 
the limit of such variation being from three to four weeks. 
These irregularities in the time of the run into our rivers, which cause 
so much perplexity and discouragement to the fishermen, are, however, 
readily explained by the influence of temperature. 
It is doubtful whether there is any general coastwise movement of the 
Shad. That there is an occasional migration of this kind is evidenced by 
the following facts : The Shad of the rivers of the South Atlantic coast, 
as a rule, have black-tipped caudal and dorsal fins, which distinctive 
marks of coloration are absent in the Shad of more northern rivers ; and 
yet occasionally these southern Shad are caught as far north as the tribu- 
