416 Mr. W. Thompson on the identity of 



four anterior ones only. So far as my observation extends, 

 the red colour assigned to the T. Cuculus is not peculiar to 

 the species at any age ; and individuals of this hue may be 

 looked upon as occasional varieties : — from 2| up to 12^* 

 inches in length, I have seen specimens of a reddish colour. 

 Considered relatively to the length of body, the pectoral fins 

 are larger in young than in adult individuals ; in those of con- 

 siderable size they often extend so far as to be on a line with 

 the vent. 



The Grey Gurnard, commonly known by the name of 

 knoud in the north, is a common species on the Irish coast : 

 specimens from the northern, eastern, and southern shores are 

 in my possession. It is chiefly taken in the summer and au- 

 tumn ; to Belfast market it is sometimes brought from the 

 beginning of March until the end of October. Not being in 

 much favour for the table with those who can afford a choice, 

 it becomes a cheap food to the poorer people. 



At Dundi-um, on the coast of Down, where I have seen it 

 captured, sand-eels and the fat of meat were successfully used 

 as bait ; and once, in my presence, a slice taken off the side 

 of one the moment it Avas brought into the boat, had hardly 

 reached the bottom before another was taken with it ; this I 

 learned was a common bait. The food that has generally oc- 

 curred to me in their stomachs was Crustacea and small fishes, 

 chiefly of a silvery colour, as Ammodytes and Clupea. The 

 Grey Gurnard, when taken from the water, emits before dying 

 a kind of snoring noise like others of the genus, and hence 

 the name of Piper bestowed on T. Lyra. 



Gobius niger, Cuv. and Val. ? and G. Britannicus, Thomp. 



When recording a species of Goby in 1837 1 as new to the 

 British Fauna, I stated my opinion, judging merely from de- 

 scription, that it was the species described as G. niger by Cuv. 



* This specimen may be described as tinged with red over the ordinary 

 grey colour which appears on the back and upper part of the sides in T. Gur- 

 nardns; on the lower part of the sides, and to near the ventral profile, it 

 was of a deep rose colour; all the fins too had reddish markings. 



\ See ' Proceedings of Zoo]. Soc. of London,' 1 837, p. 61. The G. niger, 

 Cuv. and Val. is the addition to the Fauna ; Britamiicus is applied to the 

 G. niger of Mont., &c. The reasons for this allocation of names are fully 

 slated in the work just cited, p. 63. 



