FLYING ANIMALS. 23 



mentioned above in that they do not undergo a 

 complete metamorphosis before attaining their final 

 perfect state. The last order that we have to notice 

 is the Orthoptera, in which are grouped Grasshoppers, 

 Cockroaches, and Earwigs. Except in a few parasitic 

 and some other forms, all these insects are furnished 

 with two pairs of wings, which differ, however, greatly 

 in structure. Thus, in the Grasshoppers, Cock- 

 roaches, and Earwigs the front pair are leathery, and 

 serve as wing-covers to the hinder pair, which are 

 folded beneath them in a beautiful, fan-like manner. 

 Whereas, however, in the Grasshoppers the first pair 

 of wings still take some small share in flight, in the 

 Earwigs they are extremely small, and serve solely as 

 covers. The Earwigs, therefore, which many people 

 believe to be incapable of flight, represent the extreme 

 of wing-specialisation in this group of Insects. 



This closes the list of flying creatures found among 

 the Invertebrates, and we pass, therefore, to the 

 A^ertebrates, where we find our first examples of flight 

 among the class of Fishes. In this group, however, in 

 spite of assertions to the contrary, there is no instance 

 of true flight; such fishes as are able to fly at all 

 merely doing so after the spurious manner. The 

 longest flights are made by the well-known Flying 

 Fishes (Fig. 10), of most of the warmer seas, in which 

 the first pair of fins is greatly elongated for this 

 purpose. These fishes rise from the water with an 

 upward impulse made by the sides of the body and tail, 

 and they may remain above the surface for a distance 



