HABITS AND FOOD OF DORY. 77 



There is one habit of this fish, Mr. Couch says, well 

 known to the hook and line fishermen. The dory will 

 frequently retire to the rough ground, or make a slight 

 depression in the sand. Thus, half-hidden, the tendiils 

 of the dorsal fin are allowed to float about like so many 

 worms, to the temptation of all hungry passers. When 

 a small fish — cuttle, or in fact anything — has laid hold 

 of the tendrils, the powerful ventral fins are brought into 

 play ; up starts the fish, and opens its capacious mouth 

 to receive the unwary victim. It also pursues its prey 

 by a rapid succession of jerks. Mr. Quelch, of Bond 

 Street, informs me that he took from the stomach of a 

 dory, weighing lib. loz., eighteen sprats, two sand- 

 smelts, and one cuttle-fish, besides a number of smaller 

 ones in a partially decomposed state. The total length, 

 when placed in a line, of the twenty-one fish the dory 

 had swallowed, was 5ft. 8in., the length of the dory 

 itself was 14^in. 



Dorys are subject to very curious excrescences which 

 grow from various parts of the body ; for instance, one 

 specimen sent me had in its nose a mass of white sub- 

 stance, which, when opened, disclosed a vast number of 

 round white bodies exactly like eggs. I have since re- 

 ceived another specimen with a lump on its back, also 

 containing these egg-like bodies. If you look in the 

 gills, you will often find most curious parasites. 



BOAR-FISH. 



Acanthopteri. Zcidce. 



[Capros aper. Zeus aper. Capros sanglier.) 



In December, 1870, Mr. Charles, of Arabella Row, Gros- 

 venor Place, was kind enough to send me ''a curious 

 fish ; " the dimensions were, four inches long and three 



