328 Miscellaneous. . 



handed over to Dr. Hector for preservation in the Colonial Museum, 

 where it may now, I have no doubt, be seen by the curious. 



" From Panama to "Wellington, from New Zealand to New Cale- 

 donia, from Auckland to Tahiti and back again, a fair number of 

 miles, I have watched the flyingfish carefully, and I never saw one 

 seized by a bird in its flight. IS'or have I ever seen such an occur- 

 rence in the Atlantic or West-Indian seas. I cannot doubt that it 

 happens somewhere, because I have seen pictures of it ; but in the 

 seas I know it must be rare. Possibly other lands other manners, 

 and, likely enough, other flyingfish and sea-fowl. I should as soon 

 think it possible for a kiw to catch a rifle-ball in full flight, as for 

 any real sea-bird to seize a flyingfish on the wing. The albatros 

 I dismiss at once, his chances of trying are too few to bring him 

 into question, as far as the Sou.th Pacific is concerned. The frigate- 

 bird, or man-of-war hawk, decidedly the swiftest flier amongst sea- 

 birds I have ever seen, seems to have given up fishing on his own 

 account altogether, and makes use of the tern as his fishmonger. 

 The tern, if the sea be smooth, has a neat little way of picking up 

 small morsels from its surface, and, if necessary, makes a very 

 respectable gannet-Hke splash ; never, however, as far as I have 

 seen, immersing himself, and always keeping his wings in motion 

 to get him up again. 



" The gannet, a splendid yellow-headed species of which is common 

 in the South Pacific, is, I think, the finest of all fishing-birds from 

 John o' Groat's House to the Chatham Islands. But even he could 

 never catch a flyingfish, his strong point being ' perpendicular,' not 

 the horizontal pace. Soaring high, he marks his prey beneath him, 

 and shutting up his wings (like a wood-pigeon darting into cover) 

 he plunges downwards with a splash that makes one's head ache to 

 look at ; and after a semicircular dive of five or six yards he 

 emerges, sneezing and flapping with his prey safely lodged in his 

 throat." — Eabl op Pembroke, South-Sea Bubbles, pp. 62-64. 



Sunjtsli. 



"Whilst sitting in the canoe, something passed us swimming about 

 a foot under the water, which I took for a turtle, but which Joe 

 declared to be a sunfish. I have often seen sunfish (at Bora Bora) 

 basking upright in the water ; but this one was swimming, not quite 

 on its side, but at a certain angle in the water ; and the wavy motion 

 of its fins gave it a very remarkable appearance, quite unlike any 

 fish I have ever seen. Unluckily we had no heavy spear in the 

 boat; or we might easily have secured it. Joe tells me that about a 

 month ago a very large one was killed in the harbour, and that it 

 had three live young ones in it : so much alive that they began to 

 swim as soon as they were put into the water. I cross-questioned 

 him on the subject; but he declared that there was no mistake, 

 there were three hve little sunfishes in the old one. I do not 

 remember to have heard before that the sunfish was viviparous." — 

 Earl op Pembroke,. /S'oui/i-iS^ea Buhhles, pp. 130, 131. 



