COTTIDtE. 49 



Owls have been observed to eat bull-heads and also to give them to their 

 young*. In the Angler's Note Book (1880, p. 177) is an account of a dead 

 grebe which was found in the Isis having one of these fishes in its throat : it had 

 been swallowed head first, and its opercular spines had stopped its further 

 progress. 



Pallas observes that in Russia this fish is employed as a charm against fevers. 



Habitat. — Fresh waters generally, streams of Europe from Greenland and 

 Scandinavia to Italy, and perhaps Northern Asia. In Scandinavia it is reputed 

 to descend into the Baltic. It is said not to be found south of the Pyrenees nor 

 in Greece. In America it extends from near the Arctic circle as far as North 

 Carolina. 



In Great Britain it is common in most of our clear brooks. Although Yarrell 

 observes that it is found in Belfast and Londonderry, Thompson considers he was 

 mistaken, and that it is entirely absent from Ireland. In Sampson's Derry, 

 p. 337, he alludes to the existence of this fish, which is also in Brown's list. 



It grows to about 5 inches or more in length; but "in Siberia it sometimes 

 attains," according to Donovan, " to the length of half a foot or even seven 

 inches." The example figured was from the Churn at Colesbourne on the 

 Cotswold Hills. 



1. Cottus scorpius, Plate XIX, fig. 1, and XX, fig. 1. 



Cottus, sp. 3. Artedi, Gen. p. 49, sp. 86 ; Gronovius, Zooph. p. 78, no. 268. 

 Gorystion, Klein, Mss. iv, p. 47, no. 11, t. xiii, f. 2, 3. 



Gottus scorpius (pt.) Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 452 ; Bloch, t. xl ; Gmel. Linn. 

 p. 1210 ; Lacep. iii, p. 236 ; Bl. Sch. p. 61 ; Shaw, Zool. iv, p. 257, pi. 36 ; 

 Donovan, Brit. Fish, ii, pi. xxxv ; Turton, p. 95 ; Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 160 ; 

 Flem. Brit. An. p. 216; Jenyns, Manual, p. 344; Thompson, P. Z. Soc. 1835, 

 p. 80, and Nat. His. Ireland, iv, p. 80 ; Ekstrom, p. 171 ; Fries och Ekstr. p. 23, 

 pi. v, f . 1, 2 ; Hogg, Nat. Hist. Stockton, p. 26 ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. His. 1837, 

 (2) i, p. 409 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) i, p. 60, c. fig. (Ed. 2) i, p. 75 ; Johnston, 

 Berwick. Nat. Hist. Club, 1838, i, p. 170 ; Parnell, Fish. Frith of Forth, p. 23 ; 

 Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 271 ; White, Catal. p. 6 ; Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 102 ; 

 Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 159 ; Malm, (Efv. Sven. Yet. Akad. Fork. 1865, p. 495 ; 

 Fabric. Faun. Groenl. p. 156 ; Faber, Fisc. Isl. p. 120 ; Collett, Norges Fiske, 

 p. 24 ; Mcintosh, Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 172 ; Lutken, Vidd. Medd. 1876, p. 370. 



Cottus Grcenlandicus, Cuv. and Yal. iv, p. 185 ; Richards. Faun. Bor. Amer. iii, 

 pp. 46, 297, pi. 95, f . 2 ; Storer, Rep. Mass. p. 16 ; Dekay, N.Y. Fauna, Fish, p. 54, 

 pi. iv, f. 10 ; Thompson, N. H. Ireland, iv, p. 81 ; Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 161 ; Gill, 

 Pro. Phil. Soc. 1872, p. 213. 



Cottus porosus, Cuv. and Val. viii, p. 498; Richardson, Fan. Bor. Amer. Fish, 

 p. 47. 



Cottus glacialis, Richardson, 1. c. 



Gottihs variabilis, Ayres, Pro. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 1842, p. 68, and Boston 

 Journal, iv, 1843, p. 259. 



Acanthocottus Labradoricus and A. variabilis, Girard, Boston, J. N. Hist, vi, 

 1850, p. 247, pi. vii, f . 3, and p. 248. 



Acanthocottus ocellatus, Storer, Boston J. N. Hist, vi, p. 253. 



Acanthocottus scorpius and Grcenlandicus, Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 3) ii, pp. 

 54, 56, c. fig. 



Father-lasher and Greenland Bull-head, Couch, Fishes Brit. Isles, ii, pp. 8, 12, 

 pi. lx, lxii. 



B. vi, D. 9-10 | 13-14 (16-17), P. 16-17, V. 2, A. 9-13 (14), C. 11, Ccec. pyl. 

 9-11, Vert. 12-13/22. 



Length of head 2 J to 3|, of caudal fin 5| to 6, height of body 4J to 4£, in 

 the total length. Eye — 4 to 4| diameters in the length of the head, 1 diameter 

 from the end of the snout, and 2/3 of a diameter apart ; the orbits being 1/3 more 

 distant asunder opposite their hind margins than they are opposite the middle of 

 the eyes. Head wide and depressed, covered with a soft skin, which is studded 



4 



