C O T I N G A. 



1*5 



Coryphana Boryi. Tliis species is described as 

 inhabiting- the intertropical part of the Atlantic, and 

 as differing in its shape from both the former, it being 

 enlarged at the middle, so as to approach the form of 

 the rlat fishes. It has not been found more than two 

 feet in length ; and it is reported as affording more 

 savoury food than the others. 



It is described as being the most beautiful of all 

 the h'shes. The dorsal fin is high at the fore part, 

 and gradually diminishes to the tail. It is of the most 

 brilliant ultra-marine blue, marked with bright lines 

 of rich indigo blue. The upper part of the head 

 is a rich brown, passing through very fine tints of 

 omerald green on the back into golden yellow on the 

 sides and tail. The margin of the yellow is delicately 

 marked with greyish ; and the belly is silvery. All 

 the fins, except the caudal and the dorsal are yellow. 

 The caudal is deeply divided, or rather it consists of two 

 separate fins attached to the extremity of the animal. 



CoryphcEiia chrysurus golden-tailed coryphene. 

 This species is found in the south sea. Its body is 

 very elongated. Its tail is of a remarkably brilliant 

 gold colour, the back azure, the dorsal fin blue, spot- 

 ted with yellow, the under part silvery, and all along 

 the upper part marked with lenticular spots of deep 

 blue, very numerous, and placed irregularly. 



Coryplicpna lutea yellow coryphene. This species 

 is described as being an inhabitant of the Indian seas, 

 chiefly yellow on the upper part, and silvery on the 

 under. Both this and the species immediately pre- 

 ceding, are described as being most assiduous in cap- 

 turing the different species of flying fishes. The 

 species with the tails straight or rounded, or lancet- 

 shaped, have chiefly been observed in the eastern 

 yens ; and it is probable that they ought not to be in- 

 cluded in this sub-genus, and some of them not in this 

 genus at all. 



CENTKOLOPUS. This division of the genus have 

 two spinous prominences in front of the dorsal fin, 

 but the spines are so short that they can be felt only 

 by pressing the finger pretty strongly against the skin. 

 Their bodies are compressed, their scales small, their 

 head longer than that of the true coryphenes, but ob- 

 tuse at the muzzle. One species of this division has 

 acquired some celebrity, at least it possessed some 

 in ancient times on account of its attendance upon 

 vessels. This is, 



Coryph&na pumpilux, so called as it forms part of 

 the cortege or train of the ship. It is about a foot in 

 length, diminishing in thickness towards the tail, feels 

 greasy to the touch ; its back is marked with yellow 

 bands, and there are golden yellow stripes above the 

 eyes resembling eyebrows. This species is found both 

 in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. 



LEPTOPODES. This division, like the former, has 

 dorsal prominences barely discoverable by the finger ; 

 but it differs in having the dorsal and anal fins run- 

 ning into each other, so as to form a pointed tail. 

 There is only one known species (Leptopodes Ater), 

 which is a little fish, feeble, and timid. It is found in 

 the Mediterranean, in the deep water, during the 

 greater part of the year, but approaches the shore 

 about the month of August for the purpose of spawn- 

 ing. It is about six inches in length ; the general 

 colour is deep black, with violet reflections. Its muz- 

 zle is rounded, its eyes small, with golden irides. In 

 the spawning season it might be taken in any quan- 

 tity, but its flesh is soft and insipid, and good for 

 nothing. 



There are many important particulars to be learned 

 from the careful study of those pelagic fishes which 

 range far and wide over the sea ; and no species of 

 them are calculated to afford us more information in 

 this respect than the mackerel family ; because they 

 live more exposed than almost any other fishes, and, 

 therefore, they serve better as indexes to the general 

 economy of nature in the sea. But in proportion as 

 their manners and the influence of varying seasons 

 upon them are important, they are difficult to be 

 studied ; because the sea is a wide surface, of which 

 man can see but a small part at once, and we do not 

 meet with the same inhabitants, or even the same 

 water, when we twice visit the same spot. 



CoSSUS. A genus of lepidopterous insects, 

 belonging to the family HEFIATIDA:, which see. 



COT1NGA Ampelis. A genus of American 

 birds, belonging to the fly-catching tribe of the 

 dentirostral division of Cuvier's great order Passeres, 

 and ranged between the fly-catchers properly so called 

 and the bee-eaters. These birds were ranged by the 

 elder ornithologists, along with many others, in a very 

 extensive genus, but they have been since subdivided. 

 The cotingas, properly so called, all inhabit the rich 

 and humid forests of America. They are conspicuous 

 for the rich colours of their plumage, in which purple 

 and blue are the prevailing tints. 



The characters are : ( ,he bill of mean length, a little 

 depressed, higher than wide, three cornered at its 

 base, flattened at its point, moderately hard ; upper 

 mandible convex, with a ridge on the culmen,. and 

 notched towards the point, which is curved ; the 

 inferior mandible a little flattened on the under side ; 

 nostrils at the sides of the base, round, half closed 

 with membrane and by some silky feathers ; feet of 

 mean size, three toes to the front, one behind ; the two 

 outside, in front, united to the second ; and the hind 

 toe the same length as the outer one ; wings rather 

 short, the first quill shorter than the second, which is 

 the longest in the wing. 



As restricted by Cuvier, the genus Cotinga is a 

 very peculiar one, and does not contain a very great 

 number of species. The birds which compose it are 

 all of a wild and retiring character, shy and silent, 

 having nothing in their conduct or their sounds at all 

 corresponding to the brightness of their covering. 

 They are found only at those parts of America which 

 have a strictly tropical climate, and even in these, 

 they are confined to moist and shady situations which 

 abound with insects, though they are also understood 

 to live, in part, upon soft and sugary fruits. They 

 are not, however, so destructive to plantations as 

 many other birds that have the same mode of feeding ; 

 but though they are retiring, and also confined within 

 geographical limits, they are not absolutely stationary ; 

 yet, the only object of their little voyage is, to arrive 

 in certain places at the epoch in which the fruits they 

 subsist on are mature. In Guiana, the spots in 

 which they most delight, in those seasons when they 

 are seen near habitations, are humid places. It is an 

 error to suppose that they are destructive to the rice 

 grounds. From the peculiar conformation and absence 

 of solidity in their bill, it is impossible that they can 

 be granivorous birds. According to Sonnini, the 

 inhabitants do not eat their flesh, and if the stuffed 

 specimens often arrive in Europe in a bad state, this 

 is not the reason ; it is rather, because the feathers 

 not being very adherent, the tender skin requires a 

 degree of care in its preparation, which is not always 



