Gossip about Fish. 101 



tremely modified and aberrant reptile type •" and if the general 

 reader will take for granted the connection between reptiles 

 and birds, he will have no difficulty, from a slight knowledge 

 of frogs in their tadpole and gill-breathing state, in carrying 

 the argument further, and connecting reptiles, through the 

 amphibia, with fish. 



These considerations will serve to show that the fish are 

 not so distinct and essentially different from other creatures as 

 might have been supposed. The peculiarity of their abode 

 marks them out with a certain conspicuous breadth of diver- 

 gence ; but several fishes can live for a time on dry land, and 

 do so occasionally, by choice, while the whales represent 

 mammalian life in the water, and the amphibia show how, at 

 different stages of existence, the same animal may comport 

 itself as a land reptile or as a fish. 



From a survey of Mr. Couches work, it becomes evident 

 that the British coasts supply the naturalist with a great 

 variety of species of fish, some occurring constantly in vast 

 multitudes, and others, if not permanent inhabitants, visiting 

 us sufficiently often to reward the attention of those who live 

 near the sea. 



The first volume of Mr. Couch's work discourses of the 

 sharks and rays which belong to us or visit us, and concludes 

 with delineations of sturgeons, sticklebacks, perches, basses, 

 etc. The second volume contains, among other fishes, the 

 gurnards, to which additional interest has been excited by 

 recent researches into their capacity for producing vocal sounds. 

 Mr. Couch gives sketches of several of their air-bladders, 

 which are concerned in their vocal utterances. In the case 

 of the piper (Trigla lyra), he says, " Several of the fishes of 

 this genus are known to utter obscure grunting sounds when 

 newly taken out of the water, and they continue them at in- 

 tervals as long as they are alive. - " And, when speaking of the 

 common gurnard (Guculus griseus), he mentions its social 

 habits, and tells us that ' c sometimes, in the fine weather of 

 summer, they will assemble together in large numbers, and 

 mount to the surface, over deep water, with no other apparent 

 object than the enjoyment of the season; and, when thus aloft, 

 they move along at a slow pace, and rising and sinking in the 

 water for short distances, and uttering a short grunt as if in 

 self- gratification.-" In fact, they have a sort of musical water- 

 party ; and, possibly, if they heard some of the bipeds 

 singing, they might not speak of the performance more re- 

 spectfully than Mr. Couch does of theirs when he calls it " a 

 short grunt.'" These assemblies of gurnards, and other 

 gatherings of certain fishes that might be adduced, certainly 

 indicate the presence of a social instinct much more distinctly 



