392 On the Flijld of Flying- fish. 



fliglit has really commenced. It is in nearly every case 

 irierely an accompaniment of the initial spring into the air. 



In this fact I venture to think tiiat agreement may be 

 found ; but I feel no misgivings as to the accuracy of my own 

 observations, which were not contined to a single voyage, but 

 extended to many in the most diverse oceans, such as the 

 Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian, as well as the China Sea. 

 And yet, although constantly on the look out, I have never 

 once seen anything at all approaching Professor Whitman's 

 " flapping movement." Further, I tind ni>-3elf in the ex- 

 cellent company of Moseley, of Professor Kukenthal* (whose 

 careful study leads him to lend his complete support to those 

 \vho declare that the wings of the flying-herrings are of mere 

 ])aracliute-like function), and of the American ichthyolo^-istsf, 

 Messrs. D. S. Jordan, B. W. Evermann, and C. H. Gilbert, 

 Avho have studied flying-herrings under the most favourable 

 conditions, and who describe the " rapid vibration " of the 

 jjectorals as " apparent only, due to the resistance of the air 

 10 the motions of the animal." Movements of the iias there 

 certainly are, as 1 too adn.it, but they are merely connected 

 with the initial muscular spring, with balance, or, perhaps, 

 even with alteiations of direction. The originating and only 

 cause of the flight, as it came under my eyes, is tlie muscular 

 leap from the ocean. 



When we come to deal with other genera of flying-fish, 

 however, there are undoubtedly very different grades of 

 ]icrfection of flight, since Moseley distinctly observed rapid 

 " buzzing" of the wings in the case of a species of " flying- 

 gurnard." The fliglit of this species appeared to him " to be 

 closely similar to that of many ibrms of grasshoppers, whicli 

 cannot fly for any great distance, but raise tliemselves from 

 the ground with a spring, and, eking out their momentum as 

 much as they can by buzzing their wings, fall to the ground 

 after a short flight." If this represent the acme of perfection 

 of flight reached by a tish, we have at the other end of the 

 scale species such as that which the sailors aptly name the 

 "iSkipjack" (probably a member of the genus Hemirhamphus) . 

 This is a small silvery fish, which I have seen in the Atlantic 

 a few days south of the Canaries on the run to Cape Town. 

 It occurred in large numbers on particular areas of the water's 

 surtace, from which it constantly leapt to a height of a few 

 inches. It was impossible to tell the cause of the disturbance 



* See ' AbhancUuugen beran.«gegebeji von der Senckeubergischeii 

 iiaturforschenden Gesellscbaft,' Band xxii. 1896, pp. 9-11. 



t " The Fishes of ]Sorth and Middle America," bulletin U.S. National 

 31useum, no. 47, part i. 18!j(), pp. 7-jO-7o1, footnote. 



