238 MUGILID.E. 



such as lias begun to suffer decomposition ; in search of which 

 it is often seen thrusting its mouth into the soft mud ; and, 

 for selecting it, the lips appear to be furnished with exquisite 

 sensibility of taste. It is, indeed, the only fish of which I 

 am able to express my belief that it usually selects for food 

 nothing that has life ; although it sometimes swallows the 

 common sand-worm. Its good success in escaping the hook 

 commonly proceeds from its care not to swallow a particle of 

 any large or hard substance ; to avoid which, it repeatedly 

 receives the bait into its mouth, and rejects it ; so that when 

 hooked it is in the lips, from which the weight and struggles 

 of the fish often deliver it. It is most readily taken with 

 bait formed of the fat entrails of a fish, or cabbage boiled in 

 broth." 



" The Grey Mullets shed their spawn about Midsummer ; 

 and the young in August, then an inch long, are seen enter- 

 ing the fresh water, keeping at some distance above the tide, 

 but retiring as it recedes. The change and rechange from 

 salt water to fresh seems necessary to their health, as I judge 

 from having kept them in glass vessels." 



The Grey Mullet is frequently an object of sport to the 

 angler. They rise freely at the flies used for Trout, and 

 even at the larger and more gaudy flies used for Salmon. 

 They are reported to be strong in the water, and require care 

 in the management of them, as they plunge violently. The 

 best time for angling for them is when the tide is coming in ; 

 as, when it ebbs, they return to salt water. 



The county of Sussex is proverbially celebrated for six 

 good things ; viz. a Chichester lobster, a Selsey cockle, an 

 Arundel mullet, a Pullborough eel, an Amberly trout, and a 

 Rye herring. In reference to the Mullet, I may notice, that 

 during the summer of 1 834, probably owing to the warmth of 

 it, the Grey Mullet migrated much farther up the river than 

 usual, and were caught above even where the spring tides 



