SOLE. 133 



fish, greedily seizing on any animal that may 

 come within its reach. The brill is caught in 

 the European seas, and on our own coast from 

 the Straits of Dover to the west coast of Ireland 

 principally ; nearly every fishing vessel comes in 

 with a few brills, taken at all seasons, but usually 

 from the fisheries on sandy bottoms, where they 

 seem to obtain the most plentiful supply of food. 



THE SOLE. 



Solea vulgaris, Cuvier. 

 Fleuronectes solea, Linnaeus. 



The sole (of which there are several species 

 inhabits the sandy shores all around our coasts 

 from the Orkneys to the Land's End, and round 

 the south coast and back by the North Sea ; they 

 keep close to the bottom, and feed on small tes- 

 taceous animals and the spawn and fry of other 

 fish ; those of the south and west coasts are 

 larger and superior to those of the north and east. 



