Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/101

Rh be imagined, has somewhat of cruelty about it. It is to stun the fish by a hard knock against the deck or gunwale of the boat. The fins and thorns are thus erected before the fisher places his hand upon the fish; he sees the danger, and is enabled to keep clear of it. But the end may be attained as securely without recourse to this cruel expedient. Any one who has ever taken a Pike off the hook, will at once perceive the plan. Let the Gurnard be seized with the fingers between the eyes, just as the Pike, and the hand will be secured against all danger."

The word Gurnard is supposed to be derived from the French gronder, to grumble; and to indicate the power, rare among fishes, but possessed by all the species of this genus, of emitting vocal sounds. The common Red Gurnard is termed the Cuckoo, from its uttering a double note like that of our well known woodland bird; another species is named the Piper; and the grey species just alluded to, derives its appellation of Crooner from the provincial word Croon, which signifies a hollow humming sound. The voice is generally heard the instant the fish is taken into the hand, or removed from the water, but the last named species is said to utter its "crooning" as it ploughs the surface with its cleft and prickly muzzle.

Like other bottom fishes, the Gurnards live a long time out of the water.

One of the most common as well as the largest of our species is the Sapphirine Gurnard (Trigla hirundo, .), which owes both its common and its scientific appellation to its large