ARCHER-FISHES. 263 



nearly cubical head, and directed towards the heaven, is no less 

 admirably adapted for this ' artful dodge ' than the vertically -< 

 cleft mouth which enables the cunning fish to swallow his prey 

 without deranging his position. 



The angler or sea-devil (Lophius piscatorius), a slow swim- 

 mer, who would very often be obliged to fast if he had merely 

 the strength of his fins to rely upon, 

 uses a similar deceit. Lying as it 

 were in ambush at the bottom of the 

 sea, he stirs up the mud and sand, and, 

 hidden by the obscurity thus produced, 

 attracts many a prize by leisurely Angler (Lophms plscatOT1U3)> 

 moving to and fro the two slender 



and elongated appendages on his head the first of which, the 

 better to deceive, is broad and flattened at the end, inviting 

 pursuit by the shining silvery appearance of the dilated part. 



But of all the fishes that prefer artifice to violence for the 

 obtaining of their food, there are none to equal the chsetodons 

 and archer-fishes of the Eastern seas. When the rostrated 

 chastodon, a native of the fresh-waters of India, sees a fly 

 alighting on any of the plants which overhang the shallow 

 stream, he approaches with the utmost caution, coming as per- 

 pendicularly as possible under the object of his meditated 

 attack ; then placing himself in an oblique direction, with the 

 mouth and eyes near the surface, he remains a moment im- 

 moveable, leisurely taking his aim, like a firstrate marksman. 

 His eyes steadfastly fixed on the insect, he darts at it a drop of 

 water from his long tubular snout, ex- 

 pressly formed for his feats of archery, 

 but without protruding his mouth 

 above the surface, from which only 

 the drop seems to rise, but with such 

 effect that, though the distance may Archer-fish 



be four or five or six feet, it seldom (Toxotes 



fails to bring down its prey into the water. As their name 

 indicates, the archer-fishes are equally expert. The Javanese, 

 who take a delight in seeing them show their skill, keep them 

 as a kind of household animals, and frequently amuse themselves 

 by bringing flies or ants within a convenient distance of their 

 almost unerring aim. 



