NOTES ON REPTILES, AMPHIBIA, AND PISII. 139 



"Whilst fishing in Windermere, in removing the hook from 

 the jaws of a perch, one eye was dispLaood, and remained 

 adhering to it. I returned the maimed perch, which was too 

 small for the basket, to the lake, and being scant of minnows, 

 threw the line in again, with the eye attached as bait ; the 

 float disappeared almost instantly, and on landing the new 

 comer, it turned out to be the fish I had the moment before 

 thrown in, and which had thus been caught with his own 

 eye ! " 



2. GoUus gohio, the Miller's Thumb, or River Bullhead. 

 This little species, three or four inches in length, occurs in 

 most of the small streams and brooks in our neigliboui-hood, 

 most often under and amongst stones. 



3. Oasterosteus leiurus, the Smooth-tailed Stickleback. 

 There are six species of British sticklebacks, of which 

 however I have only been able to obtain this one, — which 

 swarms in the livers and brooks in our district. They live 

 indiffei'ently in fresh, brackish, or oven salt water, in streams 

 or in ponds. They are very voracious, and are said to be 

 very destrnctivo to the ova of other fish. The sticklebacks 

 are remarkable as being the only one of our fishes, as far as 

 I know, that display any care or affection for their progeny. 

 The male stickleback not only building a nest and watch- 

 ing over tlio eggs, but also doing battle in defence of the 

 young fry until they ai'o able to shift for themselves ; a 

 degree of care and affection veiy extraordinaiy in a fish. 

 Their nest-building habits make them great favourites in 

 aquaria. 



4. Gyprinus carpio, the Common Carp. Occurs in the 

 Avon, where it used to be caught of large size, but not of 

 late years. This species is most abundant in the southern 

 and eastern counties, getting scarcer in the north and in 

 Scotland and Ireland. 



