464 THE GURNARDS. 



is good, and said to resemble that of the mackerel. 

 The Swedish designation of Knorrhane or Knorrtnpp, 

 that is, murmuring or purring cock, is derived from the 

 circumstance that when taken out of the water, it emits 

 a sort of loud purr. This arises from the gill-covers being 

 closely pressed together whilst the air that filled the 

 cavity of the gills forces its way through them. The same 

 sound, though less loud, is also observed in some other 

 fishes, and from the like cause ; but owing to the want of 

 lungs and larvnx, no sound answering to that of the 

 higher order of vertebrata can possibly proceed from fish. 

 In some parts of Sweden, particularly in Bohus-Lan, 

 the name of this fish is Knot, and it is remarkable that 

 the Irish name, according to Yarrell, is Knoud, or Nowd. 

 The Danish local designations, Kuoding and Gnoding, 

 seemingly from the same root, are no doubt diminutive 

 forms, as Codling of Cod, &c. 



Bloch's Gurnard {Gnoding med Ryggf en -flack, that is, 

 gurnard with spotted dorsal fin, Sw. ; Trlgla Blochii, 

 Yarr.), smaller than the foregoing in size, is also pretty 

 common in the Scandinavian seas, and specimens from 

 both the Bohus Skargard and the Sound are now in the 

 Lund Musevim. Little or nothing seems to be known of 

 its breeding or other habits. It is not very many years 

 since this fish found a place in the Northern fauna, and 

 even at the present day ichthyologists would seem to 

 entertain doubts as to the propriety of classing it as a 

 species. Formerly it was, I believe, looked on as the 

 young of the Trigla Gurnardtis. 



The Sappherine Gurnard {Stor-fenad Gnoding, or, 

 great-finned gurnard, Sw. ; liud Knur, Dan. ; T. Rinindo, 

 Linn.) is the least numerous of the genus, as regards the 

 Peninsula. In our Skargard it was quite rare, but is, 

 nevertheless, occasionally met with on the western coast, 

 from the Sound to the Lofoden Islands, about lat. 68°, 



