2 ! 6 PLEURONECTID^. 



latter place it is called a Butt — a northern term ; and those 

 Flounders that are caught in the extensive backwaters behind 

 Yarmouth, where there is a considerable deposit of mud, 

 are in consequence so dark in colour as to be distinguished, 

 from the lighter coloured ones caught on the sands of the sea, 

 by the name of Black Butts. This similarity in colour be- 

 tween certain fishes and the bottom upon which they are 

 found has been already referred to as affording security to 

 the defenceless from the attacks of their enemies, and exhibits 

 a beautiful instance of the design employed for the preserva- 

 tion of species. In Sweden, according to Linnseus, this fish 

 is called Flundra, from which our word Flounder is proba- 

 bly derived, and is said to refer to its manner of swimming 

 when close to the ground. 



The Flounder lives and thrives whether stationary in the 

 sea, the brackish water, or the fresh water. In the Thames 

 it is taken as high up as Teddington and Sunbury : Mr. 

 Jesse mentions having seen the Flounder pursue Minnows 

 with great eagerness into the shallows where the Mole runs 

 into the Thames at Hampton Court. This species is caught 

 in considerable quantities from Deptford to Richmond by 

 Thames fishermen, who, with the assistance of an apprentice, 

 use a net of a particular sort, called a tuck-net, or tuck-sean. 

 One end of this net is fixed for a short time by an anchor or 

 grapple, and its situation marked by a floating buoy ; the 

 boat is then rowed, or rather sculled, by the apprentice in 

 a circle, the fisherman near the stern handing out and clear- 

 ing the net : when the circle is completed and a space in- 

 closed, the net is hauled in near the starting point in a 

 direction across the fixed end. 



Flounders ascend rivers generally. Colonel Montagu says 

 they are found up the Avon within three miles of Bath. 

 They have been successfully transferred to fresh- water ponds: 



