CH^TODONS. 



Ill 



piece, marked with alternate bands of black and 

 rich yellow, — as it played about the stones and 

 crevices of the rocks in shallow water, apparently 

 picking its minute prey from their sides. It has 

 the curious and apparently unaccountable habit 

 of butting with the head against the stones, many 

 times in quick succession, with such force as to 



CHiETODON IN A VASE. 



rebound for several inches. This same propen- 

 sity has been noticed in another part of the world ; 

 M. Freycinet, in his Voyage round the World, 

 records, that when wading over the coral reef en- 

 circling the island of Guam, in the Indian Archi- 

 pelago, in search of mollusca, he was assailed by 

 a small Ch^todon, not bigger than his hand ; it 

 hutted at his hand, and pertinaciously refused to 

 be driven away. In the former case it might, 

 perhaps, be presumed that the fish was collect- 

 other, animal or vegetable. 



mg some object 



or 



