304 IN LOWER. FLORIDA WILDS 



a delicate yellowish green with five or six vertical 

 indigo bands. This little living jewel bears the 

 atrocious scientific name of Abudefduf saxatilis. 

 Anyone who would blight the life and reputation 

 of such a wonderful creature by calling it "Abudef- 

 duf " ought to be barred from naming any more of 

 nature's creations. And its common names of 

 "cow pilot" and "sergeant major" are not much 

 better. We ought to have a society for the pre- 

 vention of nomenclatural cruelty to animals. 



Immense schools of the parrot fish (Scarus 

 cceruleus), much larger than the first, raced through 

 the water at terrific speed. It is rather stout in 

 build and is of an almost uniform turquoise blue. 

 Even more brilliant but rarer was a smaller fish of 

 a dazzling red (Priacanthus ?) which was much less 

 bold than the parrot fish. It only appeared when 

 someone disturbed it in its hiding places. Re- 

 cently I have seen a statement of Professor W. H. 

 Longley, who has made extensive studies of the 

 fishes of the Tortugas, that the red fishes at that 

 place are nocturnal. This would account for the 

 fact that this species was only seen when driven 

 out of its concealment. 



There were ponderous brownish, variegated 



