186 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



chat almost invariably iJerched on the top of a net stake, looking 

 not unlike a 3'oung Redbreast. 



On March 1st Yellowhammers were migrating northward, and 

 for some houi's I noticed them swarming on the shrubs in the 

 garden and neighbouring hedgerows. 



REMARKS ON THE FUNDAMENTAL DISTRIBUTION OF 



COLOUR IN A LIVING EGHENEIS. 



By Leon Vaillant.* 



The fishes of the genus Echeneis, the best known of which, 

 E. remora, has long attracted the attention of naturalists, and 

 even of unscientific persons, b.y the singular modification of its 

 first dorsal fin transformed into a sucking disc upon the head, do 

 not seem to have given rise to any observations regarding their 

 coloration. 



If we refer to descriptions in difi'erent treatises on ichthyology 

 we find that the species are generally described as being of a 

 sombre tint, more or less brown, uniform ; some have paler 

 longitudinal lines which may be regarded as being connected 

 with a particular pattern, but not depending upon what may be 

 termed the fundamental distribution of colour. These are facts 

 which may be verified by an examination of specimens preserved 

 in collections. 



Guichenot, who seems to have observed one species in a 

 fresh state on the coast of Algeria, says, " Its colour is of a deep 

 bluish, shading towards black on the back." 



Having had an opportunity this year, during the cruise of the 

 'Talisman' on the West Coast of Africa, of examining one of 

 these fishes which was captured with a Shark of the genus 

 Carcharias to whicli it was adhering, I was struck with the dis- 

 position of its colour, the more interesting on account of its 

 connection with its peculiar habits. 



Whilst with fishes the dorsal surface is always more brightly 

 coloured than the ventral, which is white, with the Echeneis, 



* Translated from the " Bulletin de la Societe Philomathique de Paris,' 

 1884, pp. 5, 6. 



