492 THE SUN-FISH. 
so that, in spite of the great depth of its body, there is scarcely sufficient 
flesh to repay the trouble of cooking, still, the fish was formerly in much 
repute as a delicacy ; so that either the fish seems to have deteriorated, or 
the present generation to have become more fastidious. Spring and autumn 
furnish the best Bream, and the flesh can be dried something like that of the 
cod-fish. 
The colour of the Bream is yellowish white, except the cheeks and gill- 
covers, which have a silvery lustre without any tinge of yellow. Sometimes 
the Bream attains a considerable size, reaching a weight of twelve or fourteen 
ounds, 
3 THE last of the three is the ROACH, a fish especially dear to scientific 
anglers on account of its capricious habits and the delicate skill required to 
form a successful roach-fisher. 
An angler accomplished in this art will catch Roach where no one without 
special experience would have a chance of a bite, and will succeed in his 
beloved sport through almost every season of the year, the winter months 
being the favourites. So capricious are these fish and so sensitive to the least 
change of weather that a single hour will suffice to put them off their feed, 
and the angler may be suddenly checked in the midst of his sport by an 
adverse breeze or change in the temperature, 
The Roach is a gregarious fish, swimming in shoals and keeping tolerably 
; close to each other. It is not 
ws 
Ry i 
Xe a large species, all over a pound 
— wall 6S 
Ww 
South Wea being considered as fine speci- 
SS mens, and any that weigh more 
than two pounds are thought 
rare. It is a pretty fish, the 
upper parts of the head and 
body being greyish green glossed 
with blue, the abdomen silvery 
white, and the sides passing 
gradually into white from the 
darker colours of the back. 
The pectoral, ventral, and anal 
fins are bright red, the former 
ROACH. —(Leuciscus rutilus ) having a tinge of yellow; and 
DACE. —(Leuciscus vulgaris.) the dorsal and tail fins are 
brownish red. 
CLOSELY allied to the roach is the DacE (Leuciscus vulgaris), a common 
and small species that inhabits most of our streams. The well-known CHUB 
(Leuciscus cephalus) also belongs to this genus, as does the BLEAK (Leuciscus 
alburnus), in many countries called the TAILOR BLAy by the ignorant, from the 
idea that whenever any other fish, especially the pike, wounds its skin, it imme- 
diately seeks the aid of the Bleak, which, by rubbing its body against the 
wound, causes the torn skin to close. The beautifully white crystalline 
deposit beneath the scales was much used in the manufacture of artificial 
pearls, hollow glass beads being washed in the interior with a thin layer of 
this substance, and then filled with white wax. The scales of the whitebait 
were also used for the same purpose. The MINNOW (Leuciscus phoxinus) 
is another member of this large genus, and is too well known to need 
description. 
A VERY curious order of fishes now comes before our notice. These 
creatures are called Pectognathi, or “fixed jaws,” because their jaws are fused 
together and cannot be opened and shut. 
Our example of this curious order is the well-known SUN-FISH, which 
