432 FISHES. 



Found in shallow water, the Homelyn, "Spotted Eay,'^ 

 or " Tally " attains a length of 4 feet. The upper surface 

 is rough, and there are rows of compressed 

 spines along the back, and in males upon the 

 head. The tail is somewhat flattened, and has three rows 

 of spines. The spiracles are very large. The colour of 

 this ray is brown with black spots. The lower surface 

 is smooth and white. It feeds like the rest on fish and 

 crustaceans, and extrudes its "purses" towards the end 

 of summer. 



The Starry Ray is taken chiefly in Scotch waters, the 



name having reference to the star-like radiating spines 



with which the body is thickly covered. In 

 Starry Ray. 1 • .r,- ^ i ^^ 



colouring, this ray bears much resemblance 



to the thornback, though the spots are often absent. 



It is trawled chiefly in the late summer and autumn. 



The " Small-eyed Ray," as the Painted Ray is often 

 called, is a moderately large species, inhabiting shallow 

 Painted water, and abundant in the Channel. It is 

 Ray. more eaten jDerhaps than most other rays. 



The colouring is varied, as implied in the trivial name, 

 but is usually some shade of marbled grey above with 

 dashes of white and yellow ; the lower surface, in accord- 

 ance with the unvarying rule in true rays, spotless white. 

 The teeth of this species are flatter than in the last. 



The Cornish trawls generally bring up in summer-time 

 a large sprinkling of Sand Rays, or " Owls," which seem in 

 Sandy or winter to retire to the deeper untrawled water 

 Cuckoo outside. This species attains an average length 



^^* of 3 feet, large examples weighing 20 lbs. In 



colour the upper surface is brown, spotted and marbled 

 with yellow. The mouth is arched, and the teeth, which 

 lie in sixty or seventy rows, are curved and pointed. 



[In some systems the Cuckoo Ray is separated as a 



