3i6 THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



birds and the dolphins. Occasionally these flying-fish rise so many 

 feet above the surface of the water as to fall on the deck of a ship. 

 But this is generally due to their being caught in a gust of wind, 

 or happens at night when the ship is not seen. Over forty species 

 of this genus are known. 



THE COD (Family Gadid^) 



One of the most familiar fishes in this country is the Cod. It is 

 caught in large numbers on our own coasts, and furnishes food and 

 employment for many people. The cod fishery is indeed a large 

 and valuable industry. 



The cod is usually some three or four feet in length, but oc- 

 casionally individuals have been caught over five feet long, and 

 weighing over a hundred pounds. In colour it is greenish on the 

 back, spotted freely with yellowish brown, while underneath it is 

 silvery. Its head is large, and it has strong jaws which are armed 

 with very sharp teeth. One may always know it by the beard, or 

 rather the single barbel (as it is called) which is attached to its lower 

 lip, and which possibly serves as a feeler, like the whiskers of a cat. 



The cod makes its home in the North Atlantic and the North 

 Sea, and lives chiefly in large shoals on the great sand-banks off 

 Britain, Norway, Iceland, and especially off Newfoundland, where 

 the creatures on which it preys are very abundant. It seems to 

 swallow the smaller shell-fish whole and, after it has digested them, 

 to throw up the shells. In this way the cod was very useful to 

 naturalists before they were able to dredge the bed of the ocean, 

 for they often found in its stomach shells of the creatures that in- 

 habit the bottom of the sea, which they were unable to get in any 

 other way. 



Besides being sold fresh, the cod is cured and dried in large 

 quantities; and an oil which is extracted from its liver is much used 

 for various purposes, but chiefly medicinally. As it is entirely a 

 deep-sea fish it is caught by means of a line and hook instead of by 

 a net. 



Though it is taken in such large numbers, the cod is not likely 



