80 ACCOUNT OF FIVE RARE SPECIES 



them to imminent dangers : violent storms oppose 

 their airy pinions, and frequently whole wearied 

 flocks are precipitated into, and perish in the ra- 

 ging sea. Yet by far a greater variety of birds 

 than of fishes apprar to migrate to any consider- 

 able distance ; although the latter can traverse 

 the ocean in perfect security, during the most 

 violent tempest, by keeping in the deep, where 

 neither storms, nor change of temperature are 

 materially felt. 



This being the case, it appears extraordinary 

 that so little has been added to the ichthyology of 

 Great Britain since the days of Ray, But we may 

 conclude the range of most fishes to be confined 

 by certain sensations, or limited by certain laws, 

 by which their nature is governed ; and as all 

 their wants are amply supplied within a small 

 distance, they have little propensity to extensive 

 migration. A few species, therefore, are found to 

 visit us annually from the north ; or perhaps to 

 come in shoals, only from the deep ocean to the 

 shallow waters, for the purpose of spawning 

 more immediately within the influence of the sun's 

 rays. 



Mr Donovan, in his late publication on British 

 Fishes, has given a few additions to those described 

 by Mr Pennant ; and I have the pleasure of submit- 

 ting two others to the Wernerian Society, — one of 

 which appears to be a non-descript, and the other 

 so little known as perhaps to have occasioned a 

 doubt of its existence as a distinct species. Both 



