402 ANNUAL, REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



There are few or no monkeys (or for that matter few other 

 mammals) in eastern Polynesia. Perhaps the earlier voyagers 

 from the mainland had not learned to carry them as pets, like many 

 other native tribes, on their long sea excursions, or they did not 

 survive the exposure incident to canoe life. In any event, it is 

 not until one reaches islands relatively near the Asiatic coast — 

 Borneo, New Guinea, Java, the Celebes — that simian life becomes 

 abundant. It is quite otherwise with the West Indies, where even 

 to the present day monkeys are to be seen in some of the islands. 



As every ichthyologist knows, not all the so-called flying fishes 

 belong to the same genus or even to the same family. In one or 

 other of their many forms they are found all over the oceanic world. 

 The true flying fish — perhaps we say true because it is the commonest 

 Atlantic variety — is Exocoetiis vol'dans. Following the flag (I sup- 

 pose), it is also to be seen volplaning in Hawaiian waters. In this 

 species the pectoral fins are as long as its body. To round out the 

 collection of American fliers, we have the largest of all the species, 

 Exocoetus calif omicus {vel Cypselurus calif ornicus) — the great flying 

 fish, 18 inches long — inhabiting tbe coastal tides of California. It 

 is also appropriate that the zoologist who knows most about these 

 jjiscian wonders should be David Starr Jordan, of Stanford Uni- 

 versity. The flight mechanism and methods studied by him and his 

 former assistants, Professors Gilbert and Evermann, are briefly as 

 follows : " The fl3'^ing fish of the open sea live in schools, and ' fly ' 

 a distance of a few rods to an eighth of a mile, rarely rising more 

 than 3 or 4 feet out of the water. Their movements in the water are 

 very rapid, and from this alone do they gain the force that impels 

 them through the air. The apparent vibration of the pectorals in 

 the air does not to any appreciable extent aid their progress over 

 the water. On rising from the surface the movements of the tail 

 are continued until the whole body is out of the water. The vibra- 

 tion of the pectorals is not a truly flying movement, but is due to 

 the resistance of the air itself. In the water both ventrals are 

 folded; when in air both pectorals and ventrals are spread to act 

 as parachutes or wings to hold the body in air. When the fish begins 

 to fall, and its tail touches the water, the tail again begins to move, 

 enabling it once more to resume flight. In full flight the fish takes 

 advantage of the wind, turning about to fly with the favoring 

 breeze." 



Although I have rather carefully watched flying fish on several 

 oceans and tidal rivers I have never been fortunate enough to see 

 them " fly," i. e., use their lateral fins as a means of progression 

 through the air. Once I saw a school of freshwater flying fish 100 

 miles up a tropical river, but they belonged to a different genus, 

 and perhaps order, than Exocoetus. During this journey into the 



