HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



75 



NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 

 JERSEY. 



By Edward Lovett. 



\Continued /rampage 56.] 

 "^ Fauna. {Contimied.) 



BEFORE continuing our subject, we would like to 

 refer to the figures of flint implements given (see 

 figs. 47, &c.) They are from the same cave as those 

 that were figured in a former paper, and are good type 

 specimens. The knife is a remarkably fine example, 

 and was found by Mr. T. Saunders, of St. Helier's. It 

 is of black flint, beautifully formed, and having the 

 upper curved portion flaked so thin that it is almost 

 transparent ; the haft, or lower portion, shows the 

 bulb of percussion well, and the cutting edge is but 

 little injured with the exception of two decided notches 

 which are well shown in the cut. The saw is a fairly 

 good specimen, and illustrates some fine chipping on 

 the cutting edge. 



The adze is by no means a common implement ; 

 this specimen is composed of a grey opaque kind of 

 flint. The piercer is also a somewhat uncommon 

 form, and is admirably adapted for the purpose for 

 which it was possibly intended, namely, piercing small 

 holes when a "drill " was not necessary. 



Referring back to the subject of mammalia, we 

 iiave been informed that the fox was at a compara- 

 tively recent date common in Jersey, though it is 

 now no doubt extinct. Its last stand was made 

 at Surville, Mont I'Abbe and Noirmont, but it is, 

 perhaps, twenty years since it was seen. A rock 

 chasm at L'Etaquerel, in which are the skeletons of 

 numerous animals that have fallen into it, was a 

 favourite home of this animal. It is not probable that 

 the foxes referred to were introduced. 



The channel in the neighbourhood of Jersey is 

 particularly favourable to fish on account of its being 

 so easy of access to both warm and cold water species, 

 as well as from the wonderfully diversified nature of 

 the sea bed, where we find rocky caverns, stretches 

 of sandy beds, and enormous growths of Zostera and 

 various algae in a variety most conducive to the life 

 and development of the numerous species to be met 

 with. Conger eels of enormous size are taken, and 

 with the wrasse, garfish (snipe), bream, sand-eel, and 

 •one or two others, are the largest frequenters of the 

 market. 



The blue shark is very common, it is often 

 brought in by the boat load and decapitated before 

 leaving the beach ; although by no means a despic- 

 able article of food, it is generally eaten by the poorer 

 classes. Many rays and skate also are taken, and 

 the oil extracted from the liver of one species is said 

 by the fishermen to be a sovereign remedy for all the 

 ills that flesh is heir to. As regards the bream, it is 

 the black bream that is taken chiefly, the favourite 



grounds are some eight or ten miles to the south ; 

 the bream are fished for with long lines, and a take of 

 eighty or ninety for one boat with two men and a boy 

 in twenty-four hours is about the average, though 

 sometimes a take reaches 100 to 150. The various 

 flat fishes are to be taken in all the sandy bays and 

 salmon is occasionally seen, a fine one of twenty-one 

 pounds weight being taken in February of this year 

 off" the pier at St. Helier's. The sun-fish is occasion- 

 ally seen, and the dorse, or golden cod, has been 

 taken on one or two occasions ; one was taken a few 

 weeks since, weighing about 19 lbs. The curious 

 Cycloptcrus Innipus has been obtained off the coast, 

 and the John Dory is fairly common. 



In the low-tide rock-pools near La Rocque may be 

 seen darting^hither and thither gobies, blennies and 

 lepidogasters. In May and June the mature ova of 

 the gobies may be seen attached to the rocks, the 

 enclosed embryo being clearly visible through the 

 transparent egg envelope. The ova, too, of the 

 blenny may be found in sheltered niches packed with 

 loose algae, thus forming a nest ; in the autumn the 

 rock-pools are alive with miniature shoals of these 

 species, the fry being at that time from half an inch 

 to three-quarters of an inch in length. 



Of the lepidogasters, two species are fairly com- 

 mon and another is, we believe, about to be described 

 as new to our waters. 



The sand-eel, genus Ammodytes, is a most interest- 

 ing fish ; two species, A. tobianus and A. laiicea, occur, 

 and it would appear as if there was a third species, 

 but of this possible addition to the British fauna we 

 hope to be able to give further particulars later on. 

 " Sand-eeling " is a favourite nocturnal sport in Jersey. 

 On favourable nights, at the proper season, the 

 " sand-eelers " leave the shore in boats at half low 

 tide and proceed towards some well-known bank 

 which they reach at low tide. Upon raking the 

 surface of these sand-banks with a suitable implement, 

 the concealed fish leap out and are transferred to the 

 basket, although it requires an experienced hand to 

 accomplish this somewhat slippery feat. In the months 

 of September and October the sand-eel may be taken 

 in this manner in the daytime. It is locally known 

 as the " Langon." 



As regards fresh-water fishes, carp and tench occur 

 in the few ponds, but have possibly been introduced ; 

 the eel and stickleback are, however, common in the 

 little streamlets, and the miller's thumb is to be 

 found in a brook in the Vallee des Vaux. 



Of the Marine moUusca a large and interesting 

 number of species are to be met with on the shores of 

 Jersey, and many exceedingly rare and southern forms 

 occur here in comparative plenty. The " Ormer," 

 Haliotis tuberatlata, is an example of this : it grows 

 to a fine size and is obtained in large numbers for 

 food, principally from the reefs round the island, of 

 which the Minquiers are the chief. 



A remarkably rare shell, Mactra glaitca, has also 



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