204 f MUGILIDJE. 



tightly stretched. It was held, however, by the middle ; 

 and conscious that all further effort must be unavailing, it 

 yielded without a further struggle to its fate. 1 ' 



" The Grey Muilet selects food that is soft and fat, or such 

 as has begun to suffer decomposition ; in search of which it 

 is often seen thrusting its mouth into the soft mud ; and, for 

 selecting it, the lips appear to be furnished with exquisite 

 sensibility of taste. It is, indeed, the only fish of which 

 I am able to express my belief that it usually selects for 

 food nothing that has life ; although it sometimes swallows 

 the common sand-worm. Its good success in escaping the 

 hook commonly proceeds from its care not to swallow a 

 particle of any large or hard substance ; to avoid which, 

 it repeatedly receives the bait into its mouth, and rejects 

 it ; so that when hooked it is in the lips, from which the 

 weight and struggles of the fish often deliver it. It is 

 most readily taken with bait formed of the fat entrails of a 

 fish, or cabbage boiled in broth." 



" The Grey Mullets shed their spawn about Midsummer ; 

 and the young in August, then an inch long, are seen 

 entering the fresh water, keeping at some distance above 

 the tide, but retiring as it recedes. The change and re- 

 change from salt water to fresh seems necessary to their 

 health, as I judge from having kept them in glass vessels." 



The Grey Mullet is frequently an object of sport to 

 the angler. They rise freely at the flies used for Trout, 

 and even at the larger and more gaudy flies used for 

 Salmon. They are reported to be strong in the water, 

 and require care in the management of them, as they plunge 

 violently. The best time for angling for them is when 

 the tide is coming in ; as, when it ebbs, they return to salt 

 water. 



The county of Sussex is proverbially celebrated for six 



