ANTERIOR LDIBS OF BIRDS, ETC. 81 



iisli (LopJiius piscatorins) are in consonance 

 with its habits, which are predacious in the 

 extreme, while it does not possess the powers 

 of pursiiit. Crouching close to the ground in 

 the water, the angler, by the action of its limbs, 

 or pectoral and ventral fins, stirs up the sand 

 or mud, and Ij'ing then close, flat, and motion- 

 less, covered by the cloud thus raised, puts out 

 his elongated filaments and moves them about 

 in various directions by way of a bait. The 

 glistening hue of the expanded end of the long 

 shaft attracts some unfortunate fish roamino; in 

 quest of food, the angler plunges suddenly for- 

 wards and secures his victim. As the delicate 

 skin covering the elongated shafts or filaments 

 of bone is abundantly supplied with nerves, 

 Mr. Yarrell suggests that they may serve the 

 angler as sensitive organs of touch ; and such is 

 most probably the case, as they would thus 

 indicate the approach of prey. 



There is a fish closely allied to the angler for 

 which we have no English name (it is the 

 Chironectes pictus of Cuvier, xh^Lopldus Idstrio of 

 Linnteus,) even more remarkable than the angler. 

 Its habits and mode of capturing prey are the 

 same, and it can also carry in its capacious 

 gill-chambers a supply of water. Hence it can 



