THE SCARCER FISHES OF THE ABERDEEN MARKET 43 



1 Plus one in March. 



2 Smitt also records one from Bohuslan in September (1S92). 

 ;; Plus one " in winter." 



We see then, in the first place, that our British records 

 resolve themselves into a double maximum, one in early- 

 summer for our southern and western coasts, and one in 

 autumn for the east and north. 



These British lists of ours are very imperfect. It is 

 well known that the Sun-fish is a common summer visitor 

 to the W. of Ireland (cf. Day, ii., p. 276), though we have 

 not a single dated record from that region. Moreover, we 

 have numerous undated records from Cornwall and Devon, 

 which go to show that the Sun-fish is very much more 

 abundant there, at least in certain years, than our few dated 

 records would seem to indicate. But making the best of 

 what we have, got, it is easy to see that all our earliest 

 records, i.e. all those for May and June, are from the S.W. 

 of England, not far from the mouth of the Channel. The 

 Sun-fish is then and there coming in to our coastal waters 

 from the Atlantic. In the year 1850, Sun-fish were present 

 in very unusual numbers off the south coast of England ; 

 and Newman, in the Zoologist for that year, pointed out 

 that they seemed to be moving steadily up Channel as the 

 summer went on. This statement is illustrated and con- 

 firmed by our comparatively few dated records ; for we see that 

 the fish was taken in June at Torquay, Poole, and Weymouth, 



