238 
THE GREAT WEAVER. 
tlie swoop, sweeps up again into its airy height, where it wheels on steady wing awaiting 
another victim. 
Between the hungry coryphene below and the voracious albatross above, the poor Flying 
Gurnard leads no very happy life, and its intermediate existence, persecuted on either side, 
has been often employed as a type of those unfortunate persons who are ashamed of the more 
lowly society in which they were born, and aspire to ascend to an elevated condition for which 
they are not fitted by nature. 
While passing through the air, the Flying Gurnard is able slightly to change its 
direction, but cannot prolong its flight, by flapping its finny wings. In fact, its elevation into 
the air may be readily imitated by throwing an oyster-shell in a horizontal direction, taking 
care to throw it in such a manner that the concavity is downwards and the convexity upwards. 
The flight is closely analogous to that of the flying squirrels, rats, and mice among mammalia, 
and of the flying dragon among reptiles. 
The Common Flying Gurnard, represented in the accompanying full-page illustration, 
is brown above, passing into a beautiful rose-color below. The fins are black, variegated with 
blue spots, and on the tail fin the spots run together so as to resemble continuous bands. Its 
length varies from ten to fifteen inches. It is a native of the Mediterranean and warmer parts 
of the Atlantic, and in many ports of those seas is very common. 
The second species, the Indian Flying Gurnard-, is found throughout the Indian Ocean 
and Archipelago, and on account of its habits, its singular and striking form, and its lovely 
coloring, has always attracted the attention of voyagers, even though they have possessed no 
skill in natural history. 
This beautiful fish is notable for the two long detached filaments that are planted between 
the head and the dorsal fin, the first being extremely elongated and the second much shorter. 
The first spine of the dorsal fin is solitary, and at first sight looks like another isolated fila- 
ment. In all the members of this genus, the pneoperculum is armed with long, sharp, and 
powerful spines, the scales of the body are strongly keeled, and there is no appearance of 
a lateral line. Four species of Flying Gurnards are known, the two which have been selected 
affording excellent types of their general form. In the Indian Flying Gurnard, the pectorals 
are covered with brown spots, and dotted rather profusely with bluish white. 
We now arrive at a moderately large family of fishes, called, from the typical genus, 
Trachinidm. In these creatures the body is long and rather flattened, the gill-covers are wide, 
and the teeth are arranged in bands. 
Our first example of these fishes is the very remarkable Mediterranean Uranoscopus, 
a word which requires some little explanation before examining the form and habits of the 
species. The generic title is derived from two Greek words, literally signifying sky -gazer, and 
is given to the fish on account of the peculiar position of the eyes, which are set so singularly 
on the upper part of the head, that they look upwards instead of sideways, as is the usual 
custom among the finny inhabitants of the waters. It is illustrated on next page. 
This species lives mostly at the bottom of deep seas, and is said to angle for the smaller 
fish, on which it feeds, by agitating a slender filamentary appendage of its mouth in such a 
manner as to resemble a worm, and to pounce on the deluded victims when they hurry to the 
spot in hopes of a meal. Though a fish of rather repulsive aspect, its flesh is tolerably good, 
and is eaten in many parts of Europe and along the shores of the Mediterranean. 
Its head is very large and broad, and is partially covered with bony plates, and the 
opening of the mouth is nearly vertical. The slender filament which has already been 
mentioned is set before and below the tongue, and the shoulders and gill-covers are armed 
with an array of strong sharp spines. 
The Star-gazers, or family Uranoscopidce , are divided among seven genera, and twenty 
species are known. They are carnivorous fishes, of singular appearance, living on the sea 
bottoms in most warm regions. The great protruding eyes are placed upon the surface of the 
face, and near each other, that they may be observant when buried, as they are much of the 
