THE SAURY PIKE. 277 



belly silvery-white ; all the fins dusky-brown. Number of fin rays — 

 " D. 9, V ; P. 13 ; V. 6 ; A. 11, VII ; C. 19."— Yarrell. 



Mr Couch says, that the Saury Pike is common in Corn- 

 wall, and is more strictly a migratory fish than the gar-pike, 

 never being seen in the channel until the month of June, 

 and commonly departs before the end of autumn. " It is 

 gregarious, and is sometimes seen to rise to the surface in 

 large shoals, and flit over a considerable space. When 

 closely pursued by the porpoises, tunny, and bonito, which 

 are their greatest enemies, they will singly spring to the 

 height of several feet, leap over each other in singular 

 confusion, and again sink beneath. Still further urged, 

 they rise again, and rush along the surface by repeated 

 starts for more than a hundred feet, without once dipping 

 beneath, or scarcely seeming to touch the water. More 

 than twenty thousand, by computation, have been seen out 

 of the water at one time. 11 They have been observed as 

 far north as the Orkneys. According to Dr Neill it is not 

 an uncommon fish in the Firth of Forth, where it is found 

 as high up as Kincardine ; but of late years, not a single 

 specimen has been observed in the Firth. In November 

 1768, great numbers of these fish were thrown ashore on 

 the sands of Leith after a great storm from the east. It is 

 considered a stupid inactive fish, and is said to be frequently 

 found in the shallows when the tide retires, with its long 

 nose imbedded in the mud. 



Family III. SALMON I DM.-— Dorsal fins two; the 

 first with rays ; second adipose without rays. 



Genus SALMO. — Branchiostegous membrane with more 

 than eight rays ; anal fin with less than twelve rays ; gape 

 wide; teeth sharp and stout; intestinal canal provided 

 with numerous caeca. 





