496 BULLETIN 188, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of the total food intake. The fishes will, however, sometimes be- 

 come very active in shooting at insects on the wing. One day in 

 April, after a heavy rain, large winged termites appeared in great 

 numbers in the yard of the author's residence in Bangkok and many 

 flew low over a pond into which Toxotes had been introduced. The 

 fishes were observed to follow the termites with great eagerness and 

 often bring them down with a single shot or a series of shots. Marks- 

 manship at moving insects was not nearly so accurate as when exer- 

 cised against insects at rest on overhanging vegetation. On this 

 occasion, when termites flew within a foot of the surface of the pond, 

 the fishes sometimes jumped entirely out of the water, and caught 

 them on the wing. 



The range, accuracy, and force of the shooting powers of Toxotes 

 always cause surprise and admiration. In the author's experience in 

 Thailand the distance within which the fish could always be depended 

 on to score a direct hit was 3% to 4 feet. A much longer effective 

 range has been recorded. Two fishes in the New York Aquarium 

 could without difiiculty hit a small cockroach at a measured height 

 of 5 feet above the water. 



Failure to hit a resting insect within proper range may be due to 

 movements of the vegetation or, in the case of a spider dangling 

 on a thread, to swaying caused by wind. When the first shot misses 

 a mark, other shots usually follow in quick succession. 



The force with which the watery pellets may strike an object is 

 sometimes most astonishing to a human observer. An insect may be 

 knocked high in the air or may fall on the bank beyond a fish's reach. 

 At short range the drops may strike a person's face with a distinctly 

 stinging sensation. On many occasions, during exhibitions in Thai- 

 land, a spider at the end of a thread hanging from the end of a pole 

 was knocked far up on the thread or even over the pole. 



The shooting habit begins to develop early and may be observed in 

 fishes only an inch long. It is most amusing to see the inexperienced 

 youngsters emulating the actions of their parents and sending out 

 tiny drops that may go only 2 or 3 inches. In half -grown fish the 

 habit is well developed, but the highest expression of the shooting 

 powers as regards accuracy, force, and range is to be seen only in 

 the fully matured fish. 



A peculiar feeding trait was exhibited by both river fishes and 

 pond fishes in Thailand when a spider on a thread was lowered to 

 within about a foot of the surface of the water. A fish, which may 

 have been shooting at the spider when it was 2 or 3 feet distant, 

 would with little apparent effort rise vertically from the water and 

 seize the lure in its mouth, sometimes holding on when the line was 

 raised several feet. This was done so readily and regularly as to 



