100 
ACANTHOPTERYGII. — SPARIDjE. 
but remains adhering to the skin, and is with 
difficulty separated. 
^ We can add our testimony 
to that of Mr. Yarrell, with 
respect to the excellency of 
this fish, when cooked as he 
prescribes. 
The Sea-bream, or Gilt-head, 
as it is likewise called, is taken 
all around the shores of Eng- 
land, but is much more com- 
mon in the British Channel 
than either on the east or 
west coast, and to the Scottish 
fishermen it is scarcely known. 
In the London market it is by 
no means uncommon, in the 
summer and autumn months. 
During the prevalence of frosty 
weather it retreats into deep 
SCALES OP SEA-BREAM. Water, where, as Mr. Yar- 
rell informs us, on the au- 
thority of Mr. Couch, it deposits its spawn at 
the commencement of winter. The young fry, 
which go by the name of Chads, are about an 
inch in length in January ; by the middle of 
summer they are five or six inches long, and at- 
tain half their full size, or about nine inches, by 
the end of their first year. The fry of half a 
year old congregate in immense numbers around 
the shores in summer, and are caught by anglers 
with the utmost ease in harbours and from the 
rocks, since they bite eagerly at any bait. Their 
food, both in the young and the adult state, com- 
prises both animal and vegetable substances : Mr. 
