BEHAVIOUR OF A CAPTIVE ROGKLING. 



191 



occasions on which I saw it lying with its tail directed towards 

 the right. When tempted with a piece of beef to come out, 

 say, to the point C, or C 1, or C 2, it would seize the food, 

 and then swim back past the corner of the rock A, along the 

 course C D E F, indicated approximately by arrows on the plan. 



3 ! *-r\. • 



Plan of Aquarium to show the Eesting-places and Routes of a Captive 



Rockliug. 



From C to D it would not swim quickly, but when it reached the 

 back of the aquarium at about the point E, it would suddenly 

 hasten its movements, and turn and dart with great rapidity 

 along the course E F to its resting-place at B. The point I 

 desire to emphasize is that, if the fish, in returning to its hiding- 

 place, reached a part of the aquarium to the right-hand of the 

 rock A, it would then usually take the course CDE, but always 

 moved first to E, and then suddenly quickened its movements to 

 pursue the course E F B. When returning from a part towards 

 the left-hand side of the aquarium, say from G, or G 1, or G 2, it 

 would usually take the course along G H J F to B, turning 

 quickly at J to dart through F into its resting-place, though I 

 have seen it occasionally go from H directly through F to B. 

 Sometimes it would pass from the region of C 2 through K L to E . 

 I am not quite sure how long the Bockling had been in the 

 aquarium before my attention became fixed upon this habit, but 

 probably about three or four weeks. I then repeatedly tempted 



