500 FLYING FISHES AND THEIR HABITS. 



spread and held at rest. They are not used as wings, but act rather 

 as parachutes to hold the body in the air." Boulenger, the best- 

 informed ichthyologist of Europe, voices the general verdict in the 

 apt declaration (1901) that " nearl}^ all" the family "are in the 

 habit of making great leaps out of the water," and this tendency 

 culminates " in the flying fish {Exoccetus)^ which skip or sail through 

 the air in a manner the explanation of which has given rise to much 

 controversy. According to the latest evidence, the sole source of 

 motive power is the action of the strong tail while in the water. No 

 force is acquired while the fish is in the air. The pectorals are not 

 used as Avings, but as parachutes." 



The contention that flying fishes have the power to materially 

 modify their course in midair is generally thought by qualified ich- 

 thyologists to be not corroborated by their structure or by exact 

 observation. Louis Agassiz (1868), however, was "confident not 

 only that they change the direction of their flight, but that they 

 raise or lower their line of movement repeatedly without returning 

 to the water." 



They must have leverage to w^ork from, and after leaving water 

 they must go as their final impulse directs or as the wind determines. 

 Even those who contend that they can direct their course may admit 

 that " when in mid flight " they can not " suddenly divert their 

 course." Mathew (1873) observed one which "emerged from the 

 sea within 10 yards of the ship and flew directly toward her, coming 

 so violently into contact with the ship's side that it fell stunned, and 

 floated astern on the surface of the sea with its pectoral fins rigidly 

 expanded." Possibly they may be able sometimes to flex the tail 

 or fold one fin in the air and thus change the course to some degree. 



The extent of flight at a single stretch naturally varies with cir- 

 cumstances. The best estimate has been that an ordinary flight may 

 extend from 30 to 50 yards in less than twenty seconds, but this may 

 be reenforced by dipping in the sea and obtaining a new basis for pro- 

 pulsion. Mathew (1873) thought that "200 yards would be an 

 umisually long fliglit," but had " occasionallv seen individuals go at 

 least 100 yards farther," and believed " if hard pressed the}^ could 

 even exceed that." Mr. F. A. Lucas writes to me : " I have seen 

 this fish come aboard from leeward and have seen them fly very much 

 more than 200 yards. I have seen them come up to the vessel's bow, 

 but thej^ did not alter their course; simply folded their wings and 

 dr()j)j)ed back again." Tie explained that " the distance a fish travels 

 through the air, after ricocheting from a wave top, before it again 

 touches the sea is often much greater than its original flght, and 

 besides gaining fresh impetus from this contact they also remoisten 

 their gills and refresh themselves." Jordan and Evermann esti- 

 mated that " they will ' fly ' a distance of from a few rods to more 



