1 906-190 7-] Observations on the Flight of Flying Fishes. 407 



authorities that the other man was able to quote made me 

 think I must have been mistaken. It also made me deter- 

 mined to watch the fish much more closely in the future, so 

 that I should be in a position at another time to speak with 

 more certainty. That was my first reason, and it led to my 

 becoming really interested in the subject ; the result being 

 that for some years now I have never missed an opportunity 

 of watching the flying fish when the weather was favourable. 

 They can be watched to advantage only when the sea is 

 absolutely calm, and unruffled by the slightest breeze. At 

 other times the movement of the surface — the background 

 against which the fish is seen — makes it difficult to distinguish 

 the movements of the fish. It also makes it more difficult to 

 keep the fish in view, especially in the very much restricted 

 field allowed by a telescope. On a really calm day, however, 

 the telescope becomes quite easy to manage after a little 

 practice, the only difficulty being the focussing. At first, 

 while waiting for a fish to rise, it has to be focussed on 

 the water just over the bow. As soon as the fish rises and 

 increases its distance from the ship, the focus has to be 

 correspondingly adjusted. With the ordinary telescope, altered 

 by sliding the eye-piece in and out by hand, I found it 

 impossible to keep the adjustment right. In the end I got 

 a telescope that was adjusted by means of a milled screw, and 

 with it was able to manage perfectly, keeping the fish in focus 

 from beginning to end of its flight. 



First of all, I think, comes the question why the fish leave 

 ' the water at all. I have come to the conclusion that it is 

 solely to escape from their natural enemies ; and hardly ever, 

 if ever, as a means of getting about. In support of this theory 

 is the fact that I have never seen them flying unless chased 

 by the large fish which prey upon them, or to get out of the 

 way of the ship. Even on days when they were getting up 

 in thousands from under the bow, I have never seen them rise 

 from the water round about unless pursued. 



The direction in which they go away from the ship seems 

 to depend entirely on the direction in which they rise from the 

 water. Sometimes they will fly straight ahead only a short 

 distance, and when the ship reaches the spot a few seconds 

 later, they get up and go off again, perhaps straight ahead, 

 perhaps at a tangent. Those that rise right ahead under the 



