SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



79 



FLYING-FISH. 

 By K. Hurlstone Jones, M.B. 



TTHE fact that there is a fish that can fly, as 

 well as swim, is one that is brought home, 

 even to those least interested amongst us, at a very 

 early age, in a forcible way, through the medium 

 of certain illustrated periodicals provided for the 

 delectation and intellectual improvement of the 

 Anglo-Saxon in his early youth. In these periodi- 

 cals there appear mendacious woodcuts representing 

 half-a-dozen glorified herrings soaring in the air, 

 at a height of apparently about half-a-mile from 

 the sea below. In a recent run of ten days from 

 Madeira to Para, I have had ample opportunity 

 to observe the flight of these beautiful fish, and 

 although I do not pretend to know very much 

 about them, still such scraps of information as I 

 have gathered may. perhaps, be of interest to some 

 readers. The flight of the flying-fish is peculiar to 

 itself, and although it does certainly bear a 

 resemblance to that of some other animals, it is not 

 quite like any of them. The fish, of necessity, only 

 takes short flights — thirty or forty yards, I should 

 say, is about the average. I have never seen one 

 do more than a hundred yards at a stretch, and even 

 then only with numerous dips into the water. The 

 flight consists for the most part of a series of rapid 

 dashes, with outspread fins, of lightning-like dives 

 into the air, if one may use the expression. The 

 fish apparently makes a rapid rush out of the water, 

 and then spreading out its great pectoral and 

 ventral fins, uses them like sails to keep it suspended 

 above the water. It can, however, make use of the 

 former pair of fins as true wings, and they can be 

 actually seen to be in rapid motion whilst the fish 

 is in mid-air. The flight is, perhaps, more like that 

 en that bird is flying low over 

 •nan any other creature ; it is full of sharp 

 corners and turns, though as a rule the flying-fish 

 accompanies each change in direction by a pre- 

 liminary dip in the water. 



To §e> >i flying-fii.h on the 



the fin, to speak more correctly, is a most lovely 

 sight, though no doubt, to one unaccustomed to 

 deep indigo colour of the ocean and the 

 have much^o do 

 the beauty of it. The brilliant glitter of thi 

 on the great outstretched I autiful 



blue ol . !i the 



appear flies as 



they dash 

 skimrr. 



element. 



- 



are not uncommon. They must be much more 

 numerous beneath the surface, or else the fish 

 must be able to swim as fast as it can fly, for fresh 

 members keep leaping from the water to replace 

 those which drop, until the course of the vessel 

 leaves them out of sight. In the daytime the 

 flying-fish never rises more than a few feet above 

 the water ; at night-time, however, when the lights 

 are lit, they, like so many other animals, fly at 

 them, and often land on the poop deck, a height 

 of eighteen feet above the water, and occasionally 

 the)- fall on the bridge, which is about seven feet 

 higher. 



There seems no doubt that the flying-fish is 

 capable of directing its course in the air, even to a 

 fine point. One night a fish the size of a mackerel 

 came straight through the port of the chief 

 engineer's cabin, whose room is situated in the 

 alley-way. It flew with the rapidity of an arrow, 

 almost striking him as he stood by his bunk, and 

 then it struck the side of the engine-room ten feet 

 further on, falling stunned on the deck. Now that 

 port-hole was only twelve inches across, and is 

 bisected by an iron bar, so that the fish, which 

 evidently was attracted by the light, must have 

 made an uncommonly good shot to have gone 

 through out of the darkness, for it was a dirty 

 night. 



In sailing-ships, in which, owing to the length 

 of their voyages, fresh provisions are apt to run 

 short, it is a recognized plan to hang up a large 

 net with a lamp behind it for the purpose of 

 catching the fish and so obtaining a supply of 

 fresh food. I have never seen this done, but 1 am 

 told the plan succeeds admirably. As an article of 

 diet the flying-fish is decidedly a success, especially 

 at a time when fresh fish is otherwise unobtain- 

 able. Its flesh is firm and white, and in taste 

 not unlike that of the trout, but drier. Most of 

 i imens that I have seen have averaged 

 about seven to nine inches, and twelve inches is 

 quite common, whilst individuals fifteen to twenty 

 inches in length are occasionally caught. The 

 elf has a back of a dark indigo-blue a iloui , 

 .i in fa< i is of a 3ilvei y w bite, lading 

 llj into the blui above. The shouldei are 

 i ccptionally wide, as one would expect in a fish 



I in hi i iral fins, thi musi li s 



ected Ith vhich musi be proportional!} 



n I ! . large and very 



promini hi ["hi eat pectoral fins are each al I 



half Hi ol the fish, oi i athi i mori i hi 



leai I'- pei Iphi ry oi the fin dii bol i 



.ii. .iii mori di tally, quil 



