EXERCISES
1. Name several enemies of the Herring. 2. Describe the eggs of the Herring, and where they are laid. 3. What is a "drift-net," and how is it used? 4. What is a Sardine? What is a "Whitebait?"
LESSON II
THE STORY OF THE FLAT FISH
You see fish of many shapes and sizes in the fishmonger's shop; they can be divided into two kinds--round fish and flat fish. Cod, Herring, Mackerel and Salmon are round fish. The flat fish are Plaice, Turbot, Brill, Halibut, Sole, Dab and Flounder.
Most people know the taste, as well as the look, of a Plaice; but few know much about its life in the ocean. Indeed, there are secrets in the life of this fish, and many other fish too, which still puzzle us.
Put a Salmon and a Plaice side by side, and it is plain that they live in very different ways. One is made to dart like an arrow, the other to lie flat. One is the shape of a torpedo, the other is flat like a raft. The shape and colour of the Plaice tell their own story of a life on the sandy, pebbly bed of the sea. And look at the eyes! Both are on the upper side of the head! What could be better for a fish that lies flat on the ocean floor?
The Plaice is the best known of these flat fish, so we will try to find how its life is spent in the deep sea.
Have you ever watched those little sailing-vessels which go a-shrimping? They carry a large net--a shrimp-trawl, it is called--which is drawn over the sandy home of the Shrimp. When the trawl is hauled up it may contain not only Shrimps, but the other dwellers in sandy places. Among these, sad to say, is often a mass of baby Plaice and other flat fish. Tiny little fellows they are, some hardly as large as a postage stamp. They are thrown aside, being of no use to the fisherman.