tlie Flijii\(j-jhh Prohlcin. ?>'-^'i 



npi)C'aranc(; of horizontal vil)i'atioii wlicn seen cither from 

 iiljovc or below, and would turn a soincwliat diflicult question 

 of the nicclianics of the flight into a very simple one. 

 Indeed we have here Hying aetiou on the same general 

 prineiple as that shown by Pettigrew and Marey to be 

 iiceessarily provided for in the case of bats and birds, but 

 the working details of which arc differei\t and simpler, as 

 becomes a simpler form of wing. 



Perha|)s that is the ex[)lauation. There must, of course, 

 be some explanation, and that is not only the natural deduc- 

 tion from the peculiar i'ormation of the wing, but it also fits 

 everything in. 



The known (but indistinct) visibility of the larger rays of 

 the wings at times during flight points, perhaps, to a compa- 

 rative pause with wings full open before beginning the 

 down-stroke. Such pause would give the open position, 

 and with it the wing-tracery prominence. 



The form of these fishes^ wings points to this fan-action 

 rather than to other known horizontal wing-actions of the 

 nature of that of certain insects — the common fly, for instance 

 (Marey, loc. cit. pp. 204, 20G). 



The second quite recent and very important observer and 

 writer on this subject is convinced of the flight-action. He 

 writes also from personal observation, and is as free from 

 proper mechanical bias as from the improper follow-my- 

 leader habit. One of his remarks, " It is by no means 

 impossible that flying-fish may soar, as ei'en [my italics] 

 birds do this,^' shows his mechanical freedom. In a paper 

 dated Oct. 28th, 1905, Brig ' Galilee/ North Pacific Ocean, 

 Dr. J. Ilobart Egbert, Carnegie Expedition, writes {' Forest 

 and Stream/ Jan. 27th, 190G) : "Though still denied by 

 some observers, tlie power of propulsion through the air by 

 means of its fin-wings is generally accorded the flying-fish *. 

 During months at sea in the tropics the writer has almost 

 daily watched the flying-fishes and studied their flight through 



the air The difficulties of assuring oneself that the 



flving-fish moves its wings during its flight through the air 

 are well understood, and also the fact that these difficulties 

 are generally removed when opportunity is aftbrdcd of 

 observing the flight of certain of the larger species under 

 favourable conditions. That flying-fishes use their wings 

 after the manner of birds, at least upon emerging from the 

 water, can hardly be denied, since from the fo^'c'sMe head of 

 a ship plying the waters of the lower latitudes this wide bird- 



* A little premature, if Natural Histories and Encyclopaedias are any 

 indication of sreneral accord. — C. D. D. 



