HERRING TRIBE. 261 



17. FLYING-FISH TRIBE. 



There are only three known species of Flying-fish. 

 They are natives, chiefly, of the seas of hot climates. 



Common Flying-fish. These are very brilliant and 

 beautiful fish ; and their brilliancy oftentimes exposes 

 them to attack, from their numerous enemies of the deep. 

 They are equally the objects of pursuit to many of the 

 larger kinds of fish, as well as to numerous birds of prey. 

 In order to escape the attack of the former, they are able, 

 by means of their long pectoral fins, to rise out of the 

 water, and dart through the air to the distance of a bow- 

 shot or upwards. But in this flight great numbers of them 

 are frequently seized and devoured by the birds which 

 are hovering about for the purpose. During this flight, 

 also, it sometimes happens that whole shoals of them fall 

 on board the ships which navigate the seas of warm cli- 

 mates. Flying-fish are so incapable of bearing cold that 

 they are seldom seen so far north as this country. They 

 are principally found in the tropical seas. 



They somewhat resemble the herring in the form of 

 their body ; but the back is flat, and not rounded. The 

 pectoral fins, the instruments by which they have their 

 motion in the air, are nearly as long as the body. The 

 scales are large and silvery ; and the dorsal fin is small, 

 and situated near the tail, which is forked. 



18. HERRING TRIBE. 



Nearly all these fish swim in shoals, and are pursued as 

 food, not by mankind only, but also by various species 

 of predatory birds and fishes. They are inhabitants ex- 

 clusively of the ocean. 



