BONY FISHES. 341 



float, and suffered to lie on the surface of the water. The Pike, 

 seeing the bait swimming about, dashes at it and hooks itself in 

 the effort. 



This fish varies in size from two or three pounds' weight 

 to twenty or thirty, but a Pike weighing fifteen pounds is consi- 

 dered a very fine fish. Above that weight they are almost useless 

 for the table. A Pike weighing less than two pounds is called 

 a jack. 



The appetite of this fish is almost insatiable. Mr. Jesse 

 threw to one Pike of five pounds' weight, fourroach, each about ' 

 four inches in length, which it devoured instantly, and swallowed 

 a fifth within a quarter of an hour. Moor-hens, ducks, and even 

 swans have been known to fall a prey to this voracious fish, its 

 long teeth effectually keeping them prisoners under water until 

 drowned. 



The Flying-fish. — This fish, so celebrated in most books 

 of voyages, is found in the warmer latitudes, but has several times 

 been seen off our coasts. The so-called " flight" is very similar to 

 that of the flying squirrels and draigons, the fish merely springing 

 out of the water with a violent impetus, and sustaining itself in 

 the air by means of its enormous pectoral fins. It is not able to 

 alter its course while in the air, nor to rise a second time without 

 repeating its course through the water. The reader will notice 

 the remarkable fact, that individuals of three wingless classes, the 

 Mammalia, the Reptiles, and the Fishes, have each the power af 

 sustaining themselves in the air. 



The "flight" of this fish seldom exceeds two hundred 

 yards. The unfortunate creatures are pursued in the water by 

 " Dorados," erroneously called dolphins, and other fishes of prey. 

 To escape their finny tyrants, they spring into the air, and for a 

 while escape. But the gulls and albatrosses are on the watch, and 

 pounce on the Flying-fish from above, so that the persecuted crea- 

 tures are tolerably sure to fall a prey to one or the other of their 

 foes. 



The usual height of flight is about two or three feet above 

 the surface of the water, but it has frequently been known to 



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