aid of its tail, raises its body from the ground, the fins being bent or curved backwards.

The movement of this animal is generally very slow, and would give one an idea that it was very sluggish; this, however, says a well known naturalist, I have good reason to know is not the case, as, in attempting to capture the one at liberty in the large basin, it darted away with the rapidity of an arrow. I have reason also to believe that the animal finds its food as much by scent as sight. With reference to the cocoon, the end covering the nose of the animal is rather pointed, and has an aperture about the size of a pin's head, which I have no doubt enables it to breathe during its state of torpor. The animal, when in its case, is coiled nearly twice round; and I observed in each of the blocks of clay a small hole, about the size of a mouse-hole, which was quite smooth on the inside, as though the fish had crept through it.

The Savory Shad.

The American shad is one of the most abundant of our American fishes, and is held by many authorities, among them Frank Forester, as "the most delicate of existing fishes," though its numerous sharp bones are an admitted drawback. It is from one to two feet long, appears along our coasts in the spring, and entering the rivers, ascends them for the purpose of depositing its spawn along the banks. At this season they are caught in large numbers by nets. They will also take the hook bated with a gaudy fly, and afford good sport to the fisher. Those of the New England rivers are deemed the best, those of the Connecticut taking the first rank. They are eaten fresh, and are also extensively put down in barrels. When this country was first settled they were more abundant than at present, and afforded the natives a large part of their subsistence. At that period the salmon was very abundant in the northern rivers, and less esteemed than the shad; it was therefore customary for the fishermen, who caught both kinds in their seines, to require the people who came down from the country to buy shad, to take a certain portion of salmon.

The American alewive, is eight to ten inches long, appears like a small shad, and was formerly held in New England to be the young of that fish. It is taken in considerable numbers with the shad, and has similar habits; it is put down in barrels, and commands a good price.

CHAPTER V.

BUTTERFLIES OF THE OCEAN.

Beautiful Dwellers in the Sea-Fishes with Wings-Both Water and Air their Elements-Alighting on Ships-Curious Formation of Fins-The Flying Gurnard of the Mediterranean-Sailing Through the Air-Mounting on Wings to Leave Enemies Behind-Prey for Sea-Gulls-Swallows of the Ocean-The Growling Gurnard-Strange Noises-The Gurnard's Greediness-The Marvelous Red Fire-Fish-The Terror of Arabian Fishermen-The King-Fish-Great Size and Beauty-Savory Meat-The Drum-Fish-An Orchestra in the Sea-Narratives by Humboldt and Tennent-Tinkling Sounds of Great Sweetness-Paradise Fish and its Singular Habits—A Haughty Male and His Brutality-The Sea Butterfly-The Bridegroom-Winged Insects of the Deep.

HERE are beautiful creatures in the great deep with colors as gorgeous as those of butterflies; moreover, like butterflies, some of them have wings and rise like birds from the surface of the sea. The flying fishes, when in their own element, are constantly harassed by various fishes of prey, and it is supposed that their flights are performed for the purpose of escaping from these enemies; when in the air, however, they are subject to the attacks of various species of gulls.

Whether these fishes possess the power of flying, in the true sense of the term that is, by beating the air with their members—or whether their large fins merely serve as parachutes to sustain them in the air for a time, after a leap from the water, is not yet fully ascertained, observers having given different accounts. The latter is, perhaps, the prevailing opinion of naturalists, and is that of the more recent investigators.

I have never, says Bennett, the naturalist, been able to see any percussion of the wings during flight, and the greatest length of time that I have seen this volatile fish on the fin has been thirty seconds by the watch, and their longest flight mentioned has been a few hundred yards. The most usual height of flight, as seen above the surface of the water, is from two to three feet; but I have known them come on board ship at a height of fourteen feet and upwards; and they have been well ascertained to come into the the channels of a line-of-battle ship, which is considered as high as twenty feet and upwards. But it must not be supposed they have the power of elevating themselves in the air after having left their native element; for, on watching them, I have often seen them fall much below

the elevation at which they first rose from the water, but never, in any one instance, could I observe them rise from the height at which they first sprang; for I regard the elevation they take to depend on the power of the first spring or leap they make on leaving the water.

Judging from the foregoing and similar accounts, it would appear that something beyond the mere leap of the fish would be required to account for such great heights as fourteen or twenty feet, at which these fishes have been seen. If they cannot fly, as might be supposed on examining the structure and position of their fins, it seems probable that they take advantage of the wind at times, and so adjust their fins as to be carried upwards by it. Two species are very abundant-the former in the Mediterranean Sea, and the latter in the Atlantic Ocean.

The common flying fish is twelve to fourteen inches long, and has · the ventral fins placed anterior to the middle part of the body; it may thus be distinguished from the flying gurnard of the Mediterranean, which has the fins placed behind the middle of the body. These fins are also much smaller in the true flying-fishes. The species now under consideration belongs to the Atlantic, and is most common in the tropical portions, though occasionally found on the European and North American coasts. They are often seen to leap by hundreds and even thousands from the water, chased by other fishes. They have the power of flight by beating the air and rising upon it with their fins, and sail along, sustaining and prolonging their course by spreading their fins. They rise into the air by vigorous leaps, and occasionally have fallen on the decks of ships.

The Flying Gurnard.

The flying fishes generally inhabit the seas of hot climates; but they are occasionally found within the temperate regions. The flying gurnard inhabits the Mediterranean Sea. The flying fish has numerous enemies in its own element and to aid its escape, it is furnished with its long pectoral fins, by means of which it is able to raise itself into the air, where it is often seized by the albatross and the sea-gull. Its flight is short, about a hundred yards, but by touching the surface of the sea at intervals to moisten its fins and to take fresh force and vigor, it is able to greatly increase this distance.

Flying fishes are seldom seen to rise singly from the water; they generally appear in large shoals. Navigators in all tropical seas are familiar with these sprightly fishes, which relieve the monotony of ocean life as birds do the silence of the forest. The character of the long pectorals, the strength of the muscles which move them, and the size of the long

arch, to which they are attached, are the essential conditions of their flight. The common flying fish of the Mediterranean is rarely more than sixteen inches long, and is found in all parts of that sea. There are five species on the coast of North America.

The eyes of these fish are so prominent, as to admit of their seeing danger from whatever quarter it may come, but in case of emergency, they. are able to push them somewhat beyond the sockets, so as to considerably enlarge their usual sphere of vision. They are frequently either unable to direct their flight out of a straight line, or they suddenly be