THE FLYING GURNARDS. 237 



It is a curious-looking fish, with its bony armor-plates and shielded head. It is most com- 

 monly taken near the mouths of rivers, though it is sometimes captured far out at sea. Its 

 flesh is firm and good, but its small size and bony shields render it scarcely serviceable for the 

 table. It feeds mostly on aquatic animals. 



The body of the Lyrie is covered by eight rows of bony plates, strongly reminding the 

 observer of the sturgeon, and the head, gill-cover, and shoulders are strongly armed with 

 spines. 



The general color of the Lyrie is brown above, crossed with several broad bands of dark 

 brown, and the abdomen is white, with a trifling tinge of brown. 



In the remarkable genus which now comes before our notice, the body is covered with 

 bony plates, like ancient armor, and the front part of the head is formed into a deeply cleft 

 fork on account of the development of certain bones of the skull. 



The Oriental Gurnard is found in the Japanese seas, and is a good example of the 

 genus to which it belongs, the bony plates being very large, and the forked processes of the 

 head well developed. Between the ventral fins, each bony plate is just three times as long as 

 it is broad. The prpeoperculum is furnished with a strong spine, crossed by a projecting ridge 

 from its angle. 



A very curious species belonging to this genus is known by the name of Mailed Gur- 

 nard {PeristetTius catapTir actum). 



In this fish, the bony plates between the ventral fins are twice as long as they are broad. 

 It mostly prefers rather deep water over rocky ground, but approaches the shallows for the 

 purpose of spawning. Its food consists of the softer crustaceans, medusas, and similar creat- 

 ures. It is a swift swimmer, but seems to be rather reckless, as it not unfrequently strikes its 

 forked snout against the stones, and breaks off one or both points. The flesh of the Mailed 

 Gurnard is tolerably good, but requires some care in cooking, besides costing some little 

 trouble in freeing it from the hard, bony plates in which the body is so securely enveloped. 

 In order to clear away these defences, the fish must be soaked in warm water, and the 

 scales stripped off from the tail upward. In some places, such as the coasts of Spain, it 

 is held in considerable estimation, and is especially sought by fishermen. Its color is like 

 that of the Red Gurnard. Nearly all the rays of the first dorsal fin are extremely 

 elongated, and, together with the mailed body, the armed head, and the double snout, give 

 to the fish a most singular aspect. The total length of the Mailed Gurnard is about two 

 feet. 



The Flying Gurnards are extraordinary and beautiful fishes, remarkable not only for 

 the very great development of the pectoral fins, their muscles and attachments, but for the 

 unexpected use to which those members are occasionally subservient. 



These fishes, together with one or two other species, hereafter to be described, possess the 

 power of darting from the water into the air, and by the mingled force of the impetus with 

 which they spring from the surface, and the widely spread wing-like fins, to sustain themselves 

 for a short space in the thinner element, and usurp for a time the privileges of the winged 

 beings whose trackless path is through the air. 



The object of exercising these strange powers seems to be, not the pleasure of the fish, but 

 the hope of escaping from the jaws of some voracious monster of the dee}), whose sub-aquatic 

 speed is greater than that of the intended victim, but whose limited powers are incapable of 

 raising it into the air. Foremost among these persecutors is the coryphene, often called the 

 dolphin by sailors, and which is the so-called "dolphin' 1 whose colors glow with such 

 changeful beauty during its death-pangs. 



Little, however, do the powers of flight avail the unfortunate fish, for winged foes, known 

 by the name of albatross, frigate-bird, and similar titles, are hovering above in waiting for their 

 prey, and no sooner does the Gurnard launch itself fairly into the air, and so escape the open 

 jaws of the pursuer coryphene, than the albatross swoops down with extended wings, snatches 

 up the fish in its beak, and without altering the bold and graceful curve in which it has made 



