340 Recreations of a Sportsman 



a part of the scenery of the ocean, forming a 

 graceful and picturesque feature. We see them 

 in the fiercest storms, bounding with the abandon 

 of perfect confidence into the air, carried upward 

 by the gale, yet preserving their equipoise, and 

 by the aid of their parachute-like fins covering 

 long distances over the waste of waters. They 

 rise over the waves in graceful undulation, 

 plunge into the deep valleys of the moment, in 

 a marvellous way adapting their movements to 

 the ever-varying fancy of the ocean surface. 

 During a calm, when the ocean is a mirror and 

 the aiding wind is low, they are still present, 

 skimming along like swallows, or grotesque in- 

 sects, their black eyes staring, their wings 

 gleaming like burnished silver in the sun. 



In the northern waters the flying fishes are 

 confined to the forms whose tints are silver and 

 various shades of steely blue; but in tropical 

 and semi-tropical seas are found the flying gur- 

 nards, gorgeously-colored creatures, veritable 

 knights of the wave, armed cap-a-pie, bearing a 

 helmet impervious to the most vigorous contact 

 with living foe or any inanimate object it may 

 strike in blind or reckless flight. 



These two representatives of the ocean fliers, 

 with their many varieties, the species of the 

 scientist, afford an interesting field for specula- 

 tion to the casual observer, who merely delights 

 in their beauty and wonders at their seemingly 



