Pilchards are generally caught in nets. These are sometimes 200 fathoms in length, and about eighteen fathoms deep. The approach of the shoals is known by great numbers of sea-birds which accompany and prey upon them; and the progress of the shoals is marked by persons who are stationed on the cliffs to point them out to the fishermen, and who are called _huers_, from their setting up a hue for this purpose. The principal towns in the neighbourhood of which pilchards are caught are Fowey, Falmouth, Penzance, and St. Ives; and the average annual quantity that is sent to market is about 30,000 hogsheads. 243. _The SHAD_ (Clupæa alosa) _is a species of herring known by the belly being strongly serrated and covered with large transverse scales, the sides being marked with round black spots placed longitudinally, and the under jaw sloping upward._ _These fish weigh from half a pound to four or five pounds and upwards._ _They are found on the shores of all the temperate and warm countries of Europe, and, at certain seasons of the year, they ascend the rivers, to considerable distances, in order to deposit their spawn._ In the Thames and Severn these fish are generally found in the months of April, May, and June. Those that are caught in the Thames are coarse and insipid; whilst such as are caught in the Severn, especially that part of it which flows by Gloucester, are generally sold at a higher price than salmon. Shad that are taken in the sea are thin and of bad flavour, and the longer they continue in the rivers the fatter and more eatable they become. They are generally caught in nets, but sometimes with lines having an earth-worm for a bait. The London fishmongers are frequently supplied with shads from the Severn. These are distinguished by the name of _allis_, or _alose_, the French name for shad. 244. _The SPRAT_ (Clupæa sprattus) _is a very small fish of the herring tribe, distinguished by its belly being strongly serrated, the dorsal fin having seventeen rays, the anal fin nineteen, and the ventral fins each six._ _It seldom exceeds the length of about five inches, and is generally much smaller._ _These fish are caught on most of the British shores, and they ascend the river Thames nearly as high as London Bridge, in the beginning of November, and leave it in the month of March._ To the lower classes of inhabitants in London, during the winter, sprat a afford a cheap and very acceptable supply of food. They are caught in nets, and, in some instances, as many have been taken at a single haul as would have filled thirty barrels. Sprats are generally eaten fresh, though, both at Gravesend and Yarmouth, they are cured in the manner of red herrings. In some countries they are pickled, and, in this state, they are little inferior to anchovies, though the bones will not dissolve like those of anchovies.