244 NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 



to make an accurate examination of this meclianism of tlie 

 mouth and carefully compare its condition in Capros aper 

 with that found in other species. The protrusion of the jaws 

 is doubtless of some importance in procuring food, but at 

 present we do not know what peculiarity in the feeding of 

 the cuckoo makes such a curious arrangement necessary. 



On August 15th, when I went out in the trawler " Cam- 

 bria " on one of her fishing trips, an enormous number of 

 cuckoos came up in the trawl. The fish is absolutely worth- 

 less in the market, and this for two reasons : 1st, it is small, 

 never exceeding seven inches in length, and 2nd, it is very 

 thin and very bony, the bones of the head and the spines of 

 the fins being extremely well developed. It is easy to 

 understand, therefore, the feelings the trawler has for this 

 fish when he has to haul up several hundredweight of it in his 

 trawl and then throw it overboard again. I had ascertained 

 jDreviously, from information given me by the fishermen, and 

 from examination of specimens picked up in the harbour, 

 that the cuckoos were sexually ripe, and in the process of 

 spawning. I therefore examined those which came up in 

 the trawl of the " Cambria " with interest, and found, as I 

 expected, that it was easy to squeeze ripe ova and milt from 

 the fish. I obtained thus a sample of the fertilized ova 

 in a bottle of sea- water, which I was able to carry ashore 

 successfully. The ova were transparent and buoyant like 

 those of so many other fishes, and of small size. I kept the 

 ova alive two days on shore, and examined them with the 

 microscope, making drawings which are reserved until mate- 

 rial for a comprehensive account of the ova of the Plymouth 

 fishes has been collected. The ova measures "98 mm. in 

 diameter, varying slightly from this standard. The yolk is 

 perfectly transparent and homogeneous, and contains a single 

 oil globule, which is near the surface of the yolk at the side 

 opposite the embryo. I had a drawing of a pelagic ovum 

 obtained by the tow-net in Whitsand Bay on August 11th, 

 and found it was exactly similar in size and structure to the 

 ovum of the '' cuckoo." It was evident, in fact, that it 

 belonged to that fish. 



Specimens of the " cuckoo " had been found to contain 



