ABDOMINAL MALACOPTERYGII. 



137 



sides; jaws furnished with small pointed teeth; lower 

 part of the tail fin larger than the upper ; pecto- 

 rals very large, nearly as long as the body, by the 

 action of which, they can support themselves in the 

 air for a few moments. 





FLYING-FISH (Exocoetus Volitans). 



As the Bat among the Mammalia seems to usurp 

 the powers and functions of Birds, so does the small 

 tribe now before us ; their flight, however (so called), 

 is more like the long leaps of the Flying Squirrel 

 and Phalanger, than the continued aerial motion of a 

 Bird, or even of a Bat, being nothing more than a 

 violent projection into the air, by an impetus already 

 acquired in the water, no new impulse being gained, 



