PREFACE 



It is doubtful if the angler stops to reflect that the fish he is land- 

 ing — or hopes to land — is by way of being a very distant relative. The 

 chances are that he is quite ignorant of the fact, or, if aware of it, he has 

 other and more important business in hand. He may, however, like 

 to know the name of some strange fish that he catches, or possibly 

 may wonder wherein a fish differs from other animals, and — what is a 

 fish anyhow? There are many others who are interested in fish and who 

 would like to know something about those to be found here or here- 

 abouts, and how to set about finding out the name of any unusual fish. 

 So Mr. Nichols has written at some length of the fishes found in this 

 vicinity, has given a complete list of those that have been taken in the 

 waters from Rockaway even to Yonkers, and has provided a key to the 

 puzzle of their names. And Doctor Gregory has told of the characters 

 that distinguish a fish from other backboned creatures and of the curious 

 adaptations of structure that have enabled fishes to live in the water 

 for milHons of years past. 



These articles, by the courtesy of the United States National 

 Museum, are supplemented by a number of reduced copies of some of 

 the figures of fishes prepared in 1883 for the Fishery Industries of the 

 United States, and later used in Jordan and Evermann's Fishes of North 

 and Middle America. These were models of their kind and for accuracy 

 of detail have never been excelled. 



On account of the size of the illustrations this volume has been 

 issued in leaflet form though listed as No. 7 in the Handbook series. 



New York, August 15, 1918. F. A. Lucas. 



