of Natural 



one of the largest ; and when we consider 

 that the number brought to Billingsgate 

 market alone amounts to about 90,000 in one 

 year, it will be seen that, although they are 

 sometimes scarce and dear, the piscivorous 

 epicures of the metropolis need be under no 

 apprehension of being deprived of such de- 

 licious fare. The Turbot is an inhabitant 

 of the Northern and Mediterranean seas, 

 where it often arrives at a very large size. 



TURBOT. (PLETJROHECTES MAXIMT38 ) 



It has a broader and squarer form than any 

 others of the genus ; and is of a dark brown 

 on the upper surface, marbled with blackish 

 spots of different sizes ; and white beneath : 

 the scales are so small as to be scarcely ob- 

 | servable, but the skin is of a wrinkled ap- 

 pearance, and covered with pretty numerous 

 and moderately large pointed tubercles or 

 i abrupt spines, those on the upper or coloured 

 side being far larger than those on the under 

 | side : the lateral line forms an arch over the 

 ] pectoral fins, and from thence runs straight 

 I to the tail. It generally lies in deep water, 

 preying on worms, Crustacea, and marine 

 insects, as well as on small fishes : it is taken 

 in great quantities about the northern coasts 

 of England, as well as those of France, Hol- 

 | land, &c., and is baited for with pieces of 

 herring, haddock, &c., but more particularly 

 with the river lamprey, vast quantities of 

 which are said to be purchased of our fisher- 

 men by the Dutch. 



It is stated in the Encyclopaedia Britan- 



nica, that " The only fishery, perhaps, which 



i neither the Scotch nor the English follow 



up with the same success as the Dutch, is 



that of the Turbot ; the finest of which are 



I supposed to be taken upon the Flemish 



: banks. The Turbot fishery begins about the 



1 end of March, when the Dutch fishermen 



assemble a few leagues to the south of Sche- 



l veling. As the warm weather approaches, 



; the fish gradually advance to the northward, 



i and during the months of April and May 



i they are found in great shoals on the banks 



i called the Broad Forties. Early in June 



I they have proceeded to the banks which 



I surround the small island of Heligoland, off 



j the mouth of the Elbe, where the fishery 



continues to the middle of August, when it 



terminates for the year. The mode of taking 



! the Turbot is as follows : At the beginning 



of the season the trawl-net is used ; which 



being drawn along the banks, brings up va- 



I rious kinds of Flatfish, as Soles, Plaice, 



Thornbacks, and Turbots ; but when the 



warm weather has driven the fish into deeper 

 water, and upon banks of a rougher surface, 

 where trawling is no longer practicable, the 

 fishermen have then recourse to their many- 

 hooked lines. The hooks are baited with 

 the common Smelt, and a small fish re- 

 sembling an eel, called the Gore-bill [Gar- 

 fish]. Though very considerable quantities 

 of this fish are now taken on various parts 

 of our own coasts, from the Orkneys to the 

 Land's End, yet a preference is given in the 

 London market to those caught by the Dutch, 

 who are supposed to have drawn not less 

 than 80,OOOZ. a year for the supply of this 

 market alone ; and the Danes from 12,OOOZ. 

 to 15,0001. a year for sauce to this luxury of 

 the table, extracted from one million of 

 lobsters, taken on the rocky shores of Nor- 

 way, though our own shores are in many 

 parts plentifully supplied with this crusta- 

 cean, equal in goodness to those of Norway." 



TURDTJS : TURDID^B. A genus and 

 family of Passerine birds, embracing the va- 

 rious species of Thrushes, &c. [See THKUSH.] 



TURKEY. (MeUagris galUpavo.) The 

 Turkey came originally from North Ame- 

 rica, where it still associates in large flocks, 

 though it is fast decreasing in its wild state, 

 being only found in remote and unfre- 

 quented spots. It is about three feet and a 

 half in length ; being somewhat larger than 

 the domestic variety. The general colour of 

 the plumage is black, variegated with bronze 

 and bright glossy green, in some parts 

 changing to purple ; the quills are green 

 gold, black towards the end, and tipped with 

 white ; the tail consists of eighteen feathers, 

 brown, mottled, and tipped with black ; the 

 tail-coverts are waved with black and white ; 

 on the breast is a tuft of black hairs, eight 



TURKEY. (MET.TSiGTUS QALI-IPAVO.) 



inches in length : in other respects it re- 

 sembles the domestic bird, especially in 

 having a bare carunculated head and neck, 

 a fleshy dilatable appendage hanging over 

 the bill, and a short blunt spur or knob at 

 the back part of the leg. 



Tame Turkeys, like every other animal 

 in a state of domestication, vary consider- 

 ably in colour, but the prevailing one is dark 

 gray, inclining to black, with a little white 



