SHANNY. 
227 
elevated spot that is out of the water, and there basics in the 
sunshine. But in this situation it exercises so large an amount 
of watchfulness, that on the approach of any object, and before 
it could be supposed that the object itself was seen, the fish is 
heard to plunge into the pool with an effort of agility that, in 
regard to another species of this family, which he calls Adonis 
and Exoccetus, and the habits of which he describes as resembling 
very closely those of our Shanny, Oppian compares to what is 
displayed by a dancing tumbler on the stage. In the pool 
itself it quickly flies to a shelter in some crevice where it can 
lie hid in safe concealment; nor is all this vigilance without 
sufficient cause, for it is liable to be sought out by the sharp 
bills of the cormorant and shag, which are often found diving 
in the neighbourhood of its resort. It may contribute in a 
material degree to its safety from numerous enemies, that this 
fish, no doubt like many others, is capable of directing its 
eyes separately in such opposite directions as to look backward 
and forward at the same time, as it is well known the chameleon 
is also able to do. 
As this fish may be tamed or rendered in a slight degree 
familiar when kept in the captivity of a tank, an opportunity 
has thus been obtained of observing some of its habits more 
closely, and the following notes were made from such oppor- 
tunities. The example particularly studied was more than half 
grown, but it obtained no increase of size for upwards of six 
months that its imprisonment lasted, at the end of which as 
the reward of amusement afforded, it was restored to liberty 
in its native element. It often varied in colour, from no 
obvious cause. In warm weather it mounted on a stone in 
the tank, and there basked itself for hours together, so that 
in summer the full half of its time was spent out of the 
water; but when the air grew colder it remained under water, 
and when very cold it sought the securer shelter of a stone, 
under which it remained until the weather became again 
temperate or warm; but in no case were its actions in corres- 
pondence with the ebb and flow of the tide, as popular opinion 
would have them to be. In these instances of exposure to the 
sun and air we discern the admirable use of the slimy covering 
of the skin with which the author of nature has provided this 
fish and its kindred species; for without such a protection these 
