GURNARDS. 467 
i the soft dorsal fin there is a rather large circular black spot edged with 
white. 
THE large and important family of the Triglide, or GURNARDS, is repre- 
sented by several British fishes, This family contains a great number of 
species, many of which are most remarkable, not only for their beautiful 
colours, which alone are sufficient to attract attention, but also for the 
strange and weird shape and large development of the fins. They are carni- 
vorous fish, mostly inhabiting the seas, a very few species being able to 
exist in fresh water. They are not swift or strong swimmers, and therefore 
remain for the most partin deen water. Some, however, are able by means 
of their largely-developed pectoral fins to raise themselves into the air, and 
for a brief space to sustain themselves in the thinner element. The mouth 
is mostly large, and in some cases the gape is so wide and the head and 
jaws so strangely shaped, that the general aspect is most repulsive. 
WE now come to a very familiar anc not very prepossessing fish ; the well- 
BULL-HEAD. —(Cottus gobio.) 
known BULL-HEAD, or MILLER’S THUMB, sometimes called by the name of 
Tommy LOGGE. 
This large-headed and odd-looking fish is very common in our brooks and 
streams, where it is generally found under loose stones, and affords great 
sport to the juvenile fisherman. In my younger days, the chase of the Bull- 
head was rather an exciting one, and was carried out without hook or line, or 
indeed any aid but the hands. This fish has a habit of hiding itself under 
loose stones, and on account of its flat, though wide head is enabled to push 
itself into crevices which are apparently much too small to contain it. 
The name of Miller’s Thumb is derived from the peculiarly wide and 
flattened head, which is thought to bear some resemblance to the object 
whence its name is taken. A miller judges of the quality of the meal by 
rubbing it with his thumb over his fingers as it is shot from the spout, and by 
the continual use of this ustom the thumb becomes gradually widened and 
flattened at its extremity. The name of Bull-head also alludes to the same 
width and flatness of the slzull. 
The Bull-head is a voracious little fish. feeding on various water insects, 
worms, larvze, and the young fry of other fish. It is a representative of a 
rather large genus, comprising about twenty-six or twenty-seven known 
HH 2 
