NONSUCH 



sustain properly the berry camouflage; and with 

 the passing, the outgrowing of this protection, Na- 

 ture — for lack of some better, very wonderful, all- 

 inclusive word — instantly offered compensation. 

 Even in this slight advance in age, the pectoral fin 

 had pushed out sufficiently so that the tiny fish 

 could not only rush a foot or two over the surface 

 of the water but actually leap in the air and scumfish 

 along for a foot. 



One of my assistants made the suggestion that it 

 was getting late and the slick seemed to be petering 

 out, and a glance at him showed that far from any 

 intended pun, it was the slow lift and settle of the 

 gently rolling boat which prompted the tactful and 

 hopeful information. I took pity on the patient suf- 

 ferer and we started for home. 



I found I had captured all three important stages 

 of the berry mimics, jolly little chaps, the largest 

 much less than an inch in length, the smallest only 

 one-sixth of an inch. Yet all performed separate 

 and individual actions suited to their particular 

 needs. All were reddish amber in color, exactly like 

 the sargassum berries. The smallest had still a fair 

 amount of yolk which rounded him out into berry 

 shape. His pectoral fins, potential wings, were very 

 short, hardly 15 per cent of his length, quite hyaline 

 and wholly useless for flight. When he was fright- 

 ened he did exactly the same thing which he did 

 when he was calm and happy — he did nothing, just 

 like the berries. Flyingfishlet No. 2 was a trifle 

 larger, sufficiently unberrylike, as I have observed, 



60 



