THE FLYING FISH OF THE OCEAN.
(Exocætus volitans.)
This fish has a slender body, a projecting under-lip, and very large and prominent eyes. The ventral fins are small, but the pectoral fins are so long and wide as to answer the purpose of wings, and aided by them the fish is enabled to rise out of the water, and support itself in the air. It must not be supposed, however, that the Flying-fish can soar like a bird; on the contrary, it can only spring from the water to a considerable height (sometimes as much as twenty feet), and fly about a hundred and fifty, or two hundred yards; most commonly, however, it does not rise above two or three feet from the water, and remains fluttering over the surface for about a hundred yards, when it again drops into its native element. There is another Flying-fish (Exocætus exiliens) in the Mediterranean.