hoped, too, that this course may suggest and elicit fuller observations from persons living in our seaboard towns.

A review of the general movement along the coast.

64. At the approach of settled warm weather the schools make their appearance in the coast waters. They remain in the bays and near the shores until they are warned away by the breath of coming winter. The date of their appearance is earlier in the more southern waters, and the length of their sojourn longer. It is manifestly impracticable to give anything but approximate dates to indicate the time of their movements. In fact, the comparison of two localities, distant apart one or two hundred miles, would indicate very little. When wider ranges are compared there becomes perceptible a proportion in the relations of the general averages. There is always a balance in favor of earlier arrivals at the more southern localities. Thus, it becomes apparent that the first schools appear in Chesapeake Bay in March and April, on the coast of New Jersey in April and early May, and on the south coast of New England in late April and May, off Cape Ann about the middle of May, and in the Gulf of Maine about the latter part of May and the first of June. Returning they leave Maine in late September and October, Massachusetts in October, November, and December, Long Island Sound and vicinity in November and December, Chesapeake Bay in December, and Cape Hatteras in January. Farther to the south they appear to remain more or less constantly throughout the year.

Coast of Florida.

65. In the Saint John's River, Florida, menhaden are abundant throughout the winter. They appear in November clogging the shadnets. It is not known how far they proceed up the river, but I was unable to learn that they have been taken above Buckley's Bluff, twelve miles above Jacksonville and thirty-six from the mouth of the river; they are particularly numerous at the mouth and in the vicinity of Mayport and Yellow Bluff. That they remain as late as May is well estab lished, and it is the opinion of Mr. Kemps that they are found throughout the summer, the young fish, at least. I have found the grown and half-grown fish abuudant at Arlington and Jacksonville in April, 1874 and 1875. After the first of May the opportunities are not favorable for observation, the use of shad-nets being then discontinued. Young fish are seen from May to October, according to Mr. Kemps, in schools over two miles long and extending from shore to shore of the river. Along the coast of Florida, from Cape Canaveral north, the schools of adult fish are said to be common through the winter months.

Coast of Georgia.

66. Mr. Joseph Shepard, of Saint Mary's, Ga., states, on the authority of a Saint Andrew's Bar pilot, that small schools of menhaden are seen in Saint Andrew's Sound during the summer months, coming over

the bar with the flood tide and going out with the ebb, and that the same fish are also seen in large schools in calm weather during the winter months outside the Sea Islands in about seven fathoms of water, and three to four feet below the surface. Mr. Charles C. Leslie, a fish-dealer in Charleston, S. C., informs me that schools of menhaden frequently are seen in the winter off Charleston Harbor; a statement which is confirmed by others, among them Mr. Daniel T. Church, of Rhode Island. Coast of North Carolina.

67. Mr. A. C. Davis, of Beaufort, N. C., writes that the fat-back first approaches the coast at that place in June, the main body arriving in July from the south, entering the rivers and drifting up with the flood tide and down with the ebb; their appearance is regular and certain, and has never failed, the numbers seeming to be greater every year. They remain in the rivers and inlets throughout the summer, gradually departing toward the close of October and the first of November to the southward. During the season they are constantly coming in at intervals. Those which first arrive are one-quarter to one-half grown, no fullgrown fish appearing until later in the season. In bad weather, especially with northern winds, they leave for the sea, returning in moderate weather, with southerly winds.

Mr. A. W. Simpson, jr., of Cape Hatteras light-station, records several interesting facts concerning the movements of the fat-back around that cape. They first make their appearance in June and remain until December; they generally come in to the shore on the northern coast of the cape, running south along the beach and entering the inlets and rivers. In the first of the season they may be seen, in moderate weather, five or six miles at sea, in large schools half a mile in length, apparently floating upon the surface of the water. They always make their appearance from the north and leave the coast by the same route. Some are seen in the sounds and rivers all the year. When the second large run occurs in the fall they appear in immense numbers. This is sometimes in November and in other seasons in December. In 1873 they were first seen on the coast about the 6th of December, and the main body arrived about the 10th of December. Many schools may be seen at one time. They seldom come near the coast in high winds and rough seas, or if they do they swim so low that they are not seen from land. Their appearance is certain and they are about the same in abundance every year at the spring run, but the fall and winter runs vary somewhat, the number in some seasons being very much smaller. Mr. Simpson thinks that the tides do not affect their movements in any respect, except that they prefer to swim against the tide; he has convinced himself, by careful observation, that more enter the inlets on the ebb than on the flood, though they are frequently seen drifting up and down channels with the flood and ebb. The one and two years' fish school by themselves, the young in large schools along the sandy shores. Many fish pass the winter in the inlets and rivers,

but most of them leave the coast by a northern route, the spring runs leaving in October, the fall runs about the middle of January. Some seasons they go to sea in large schools and others they drop away gradually. The first of the spring-runs are usually the smallest. During the summer the large schools are only seen occasionally, though Mr. Simpson thinks that they are on the coast continually. They only come near the outer sea-beach when driven in in October and November by the tailor (Pomatomus saltatrix), or blue-fish of the North, and the dogfish (Mustelus lævis).

Coast of Virginia and Chesapeake Bay.

68. According to Mr. Henry Richardson, the alewives are caught in the vicinity of Cape Henry as early as March, though the main body does not come in until June and July. During these months they are constantly passing the Virginia capes and entering Chesapeake Bay, coming from the south.

The Potomac fishermen inform me that they appear in the spring soon after the shad and herring, remaining in the Potomac during the season, where they prove a serious hinderance to the working of the shad seines. Young fish seven inches in length were taken in the lower Potomac at Nanjemoy Reach as late as December 10, 1874, but disappeared after the first heavy frost. The first schools appeared late in March and early in April, 1875, and in 1878 early in March.

At Apateague Island, Accomac County, Virginia, according to Mr. J. L. Anderton, they are first seen swimming northward near the coast in April, the main body arriving in June. Their appearance is regular. They run in-shore on the flood, drifting off with the ebb. In November they are seen making their way toward the south.

In Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds, says Mr. Lawson, they appear about May 1, the fish of different sizes in separate schools; they are found there in quantity throughout the season, the southward migration beginning in August and continuing until the middle of October.

I find a manuscript note by Professor Baird to the effect that they are found in large schools at Cape Charles, Virginia, from April to October, being most numerous on the bay side of the peninsula.

Delaware Bay.

69. Mr. James H. Bell, keeper of Mispillion River light-house, Delaware Bay, states that fish are first seen in those waters early in March, and grow more numerous until about the middle of April, when they are frightened away by the sea-trout. They soon return in increasing numbers until the middle or last of May, after which they begin to disappear in large schools until the first of August, when they again become numcrous, and continue so if the weather is mild, when they begin to disappear, working out to sea through the channel. The opinion of Mr. Bell is that after entering the bay they follow the main channel, spread

ing toward the shores on either side as they advance, until arrested by brackish water. The western shore of the bay is very shallow, the tide near the beach seldom rising above six or seven feet. When the tide is three-quarters flood the fish run in close to land and are caught within twenty yards of the beach; from slack water to first quarter ebb, if it is calm, the water is spotted with the break or ripple, and as the tide recedes they float out with it to deep water. Medium and small fish are found together, not probably in the same schools, but close enough together for the seine to catch fish ranging in length from three to nine inches.

Coast of New Jersey.

70. According to Mr. Albert Morris, menhaden make their appearance in Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey, about May 1, the main body arriving about June, and leaving about the middle of September, the "eastern run" coming along in October or November.

Mr. A. G. Wolf, keeper of Absecom light, Atlantic City, N. J., writes that the appearance of the first schools is regular and takes place in April, the main body coming in July. They come from the returning south by degrees in the fall, beginning in September.

D. E. Foster, of Cape May light-house, states that they appear from the south about April, larger but not so fat as the second arrivals in July, the majority of which are from four to six inches in length. They disappear in November, heading to the north.

Eastern end of Long Island.

71. In the vicinity of Greenport, N. Y., according to Captain Sisson, the first arrivals are in March and April, and according to Mr. Havens, about April 1, while Hawkins Brothers, of Jamesport, put it about the 1st of May. These gentlemen agree that the first schools contain the largest fish; that they are followed for some weeks by other runs, and that the schools leave for the south on the approach of cold weather in October and November.

Mr. Dudley tells me that his steamer usually starts out from Pine Island from the 1st to the 12th of May. She never fails to find fish outside of Montauk Point. The gangs which started out for the season, April 20, 1877, found plenty of fat fish on the first day out.

The late schools of large fish which come upon the Connecticut coast about the 1st of November, and which are supposed to come from the coast of Maine, usually strike across from Watch Hill and Fisher's Island to the Napeague shore, where they sometimes remain several days before their final disappearance from those waters.

Long Island Sound.

72. In the western part of Long Island Sound, at Stratford, according to Mr. Lillingston, they appear about the 1st of May and remain until Octo

ber, when they leave at once, swimming east. They approach from the east. The largest fish he thinks are found in August. In August and September immense numbers "strike on" and follow up the Housatonic River, and these are invariably poor.

At Milford, Conn., we are informed by Mr. Miles, the first white fish are seen in April or May, the main body arriving in Long Island Sound in June and July. Sometimes the first fish are the largest. The schools or runs appear to come at intervals of from two to three weeks. The fish come in around Montauk Point, the early fish follow along the Connecticut shore and up the rivers; later in the season they are found offshore in deep water, though they occasionally work inshore and up the rivers. Their appearance is regular and certain. The schools are mixed as regards size, in the opinion of Mr. Miles. The schools begin to disappear about the 1st of September, passing around Montauk Point to the south, and are all gone by the 1st to the 15th of October.

At Westbrook, according to Captain Stokes, they appear about the middle of May and leave in November in continuous schools, passing around Montauk, bound to the south. In July the schools are the largest.

At Saybrook, says Captain Ingham, the first bony-fish are seen in May, the main body arriving in June. The first are scattering and generally the largest; there are several runs at irregular intervals. The appearance of the fish is regular and certain. They leave in October mostly in a body.

Captain Beebe, of the Cornfield Point light-vessel, writes that the first bony-fish are seen in April, but that these are not the largest. They work along the bays and rivers of the sound, drifting in with the flood and out with the ebb. They leave about the middle of November in a body, passing around Montauk Point to the southward. They ascend the Connecticut above the Shore Line Railway bridge, where they are often followed by the seining gangs belonging to Luce Brothers, of Niantic.

Block Island Sound.

73. Captain John Washington, of Mystic River, Conn., states that the first bony-fish arrive in Block Island Sound early in April, followed by larger schools toward the last of the month, and that they continue to come in during the first half of the summer. They come in around Montauk in large schools, and after passing the outer islands, the large schools break up into smaller ones, which make their way toward the rivers and coves. Their arrival is certain and quite regular, varying but a few days from year to year. They begin to leave in October, and by the last of November are gone. A few stragglers are seen in the Mystic River until the beginning of freezing weather. They swim southward in their fall migration, going faster than when coming north in the spring.

Capt. Jared S. Crandall observes that they first appear in Block Island Sound about May 1, coming from the southward and through the east