24 . PERCIDJE. 



above backwards ; colour of the body reddish grey, browner 

 on the back, paler on the belly, marked with dark and dull 

 yellow lines in the same oblique direction as the scales ; head 

 brown with darker brown spots, gill-covers striped with yel- 

 low ; membrane of the first dorsal fin black to the fourth 

 spine, the remainder and the second dorsal fin pale brown, 

 almost white ; other fins light brown. The spawning season 

 is in June. 



The following lines, referring to various qualities in the 

 Weever, may be quoted by way of conclusion. 



" The Weever, which although his prickles venom be, 

 By fishers cut away, which buyers seldom see, 

 Yet for the fish he bears, 'tis not accounted bad." 



DRAYTON, POI.Y-OLBION, Song xxv. 



