84 Mr. Coucx on the Natural History 
Esox. 
Garpike. E. Belone.—This fish comes in April, and sometimes 
continues so late as near the end of December ; after this 
it is not seen. It keeps at no great distance from the sur- 
face, and swims with great rapidity. When it swallows the 
hook, and finds itself restrained by the line, it mounts to the 
surface, and, with the body half out of the water, struggles 
to set itself free, even before the fisherman perceives that 
he has hooked a fish. The intestinal canal of this fish runs 
straight from the gullet to the anus, without any appendix 
or convolution, or distinction between the stomach and the 
bowels. 
Skipper. E.Saurus.—This species does not take a bait. A native 
of the same climate, this fish nearly resembles the Flying- 
fish in its manners and its fate. Frequently, when the wea- 
ther is fair, they are seen to spring from the bosom of the 
deep, pass over a space of thirty or forty feet, and plunge 
into the water to rise again in a moment and flit over the 
same distance. Sometimes this may proceed from wanton- 
ness, and sometimes probably from an impulse to escape 
from the voracious inhabitants of the deep: but it seems 
surprising that a fish so scantily provided with fins should 
be able to make such an extraordinary leap ; for the pec- 
_toral fins, instead of reaching nearly to the tail, as in the 
Flying-fish, are very small; and though well adapted by 
their figure to raise and direct the head, cannot afford assist- 
ance in supporting the body in the air. The whole motion 
is effected by the action of the tail and finlets alone, and is 
more properly a leap than a flight. "This is an excellent fish 
for the table. 
Sea Pike. E. Sphyrena.—I have been informed that a fish of 
this 
