138 NOTES ON EEPTILES, AMPIinUA, AND PISH. 



leave tlio water much later in tlio season, retaining their 

 gills till the end of September. 



They are very voracioiis, feeding at first on cyclops and 

 various ontomostraca ; and later on on the larvas of gnats. 

 They are very pretty objects, fish-like in form, and with 

 bright golden eyes. They are abont an inch long wlion they 

 leave the water in antn.mn. 



Cooke states that, T. crislatus is three years in attain- 

 ing its adult size, and does not return to the water till 

 then. 



Dr. Wiight says, "They attain to their full size by the 

 ensuing spring, growing rapidly during the autumn and 

 winter." This last I cannot believe, as the winter is a time 

 of more or less complete torpor, and cannot be a period of 

 growth. 



On the other hand, I have never been able to find speci- 

 mens of intermediate size at any time of the year ; those 

 I have found in the ponds in spring are always adult, or 

 nearly adult size, — and those that I have found hybcrnating 

 have also been of adult size. I should very much like to 

 hoar if any of our members have been more fortunate. 



We next come to the Fishes. Of fifty species of British 

 freshwater fishes, I am only able to record twenty. I am 

 sure others must occur, but I have not been able to deter- 

 mine them. 



1. Ferca Jluviatilis, the Perch. This, one of the most 

 beautiful of our native fishes, is abundant in the Avon, 

 Froome, Chew, and other suitable streams in the district. 

 The power of retaining life after severe injuries, and of 

 repairing such injuries, mentioned with reference to the 

 reptiles, seems still greater in fish — the perch, carp, and 

 tench being notably so. 



" Fennel," in his Angler Naturalist, relates the following : 



