236 



THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



is perhaps (as we say) extended ; our faunal lists have, per- 

 chance, a new item added to them ; and that is well-nigh 

 all, and it comes to little. But let that occasional event 

 repeat itself a dozen or a score of times, and new facts appear 

 and new problems emerge from the accumulated record. 

 For we have now facts to classify ; we can group the several 

 occurrences according to place and according to time ; and 

 we can in the end do something towards discovering the 



Fig. i. Key-Map of the Scottish Fishery Board's Statistical Areas. 



habitat, or towards tracing the seasonal migrations of the 

 species. The date of each capture, often neglected in the 

 older accounts (as, for instance, in Day's British Fishes), 

 becomes a matter of cogent interest ; for place and season 

 now become part of a common story. 



The recorded localities and seasons of capture of our 

 fishes must be studied, like everything else, subject to certain 

 reservations. We are not dealing with sufficient or adequate 

 material, but only with fragments of information. The 



