CONCERNING SMALL FRY. 75. 



the loach to the gourmet, that in times past 

 numbers were, with great trouble, transported 

 to various European waters; and Frederick, King 

 of Sweden, had them brought from Germany and 

 naturalised in his own country. 



The Bullhead, or miller's-thumb, must be a 

 terrible bugbear and goblin to the small fry among 

 which it lives. He leads a life not unlike that of 

 the loach, haunting like spots, feeding upon the 

 same food, and spawning during the first spring 

 months. A low, flat head, large eyes, wide, 

 gaping mouth, and body covered with slimy 

 mucus these hardly go to form a pleasant 

 picture. To the juvenile poacher the miller's- 

 thumb is probably never so popular as the silvery 

 minnow or the spined stickleback ; but one pe- 

 culiarity it has over these, and that is its 

 chameleon-like colours. ' Of a dozen specimens 

 caught no two are alike. He is yellow, brown, 

 black, green, creamy ; and doubtless these vary- 

 ing colours are due to the hues of the streams 

 he inhabits. In summer he indulges himself, 

 lying on some flat stone for hours, and there 

 taking his midday siesta. The bullhead is even 

 more formidable to handle than to look at, being 

 all over protected by spiny armour. The spines are 

 mostly carried on the fins, and these are frequently 

 used with considerable effect. The birds of the 



