152 THE DORY. 



accumulations of seaweed take place, which in the process of 

 decomposition breed immense numbers of maggots. At spring 

 tides, during a fresh breeze, this bank of weed being washed by 

 the water, the contents are dispersed and the Bass come quite 

 into the land-wash to feed, and are found in almost every cove 

 and bay under these circumstances in the summer. 



THE DORY. 



(Zeus faber.} 



The Dory or John Dory is one of the most grotesque and 

 at the same time one of the ver> best fish afforded by our seas. 

 Head very large and very ugly, body deep and compressed, 

 colour olive-brown with a golden yellowish tinge, a deep notch 

 in front of the eyes, a black spot behind each gill- cover, mouth 

 capable of great protrusion, and head having a very lantern- 

 jawed appearance. It is very sluggish in its movements, float- 

 ing or drifting along with the tide, but can exert itself when its 

 prey is in sight. The Dory is taken amongst other fish in the 

 trawl, seine, or trammel-net, but is at times caught with hook 

 and line. It will swallow with avidity a small live fish already 

 hooked, and I have now and then taken one when Pout-fishing, 

 the Dory having gorged a hooked Pout. If you perceive a 

 Dory hovering round the boat, and throw out a line baited 

 with a small Pout, Pollack, or Bream, 'all alive and kicking,' 

 you will often get the Dory, sometimes even without hooking 

 it, for there are two projecting bones in the inside of the jaw 

 over which the snood catches and often enables you to haul 

 them to the surface, when a hand-net or gaff, or, in default of 

 either, your fingers in the gills of the fish, may be used to get 

 the Dory on board. They are not unfrequently caught when 

 Pollack-fishing with the living Sand-Eel. The Plymouth men 

 make fast a small Bream by the tail, without a hook, as a bait, 

 and on a Dory gorging it, the dorsal and pectoral fins stick 

 across the throat and thus do the work of a hook. The Dory 

 frequently runs itself on shore ; it grunts when taken out of the 

 water. 



