Some writers have stated that these fishes left the water for the purpose of catching insect food and that they had the power of regulating their flight by the movement of their fins. The best authorities, however, claim that they do not possess the power of changing the direction, velocity, or altitude of their flight and the position of the fins is not voluntarily changed, and that their object in leaving the water is not for food.
They rise without reference to the direction of the wind or waves, and frequently, when their course is at an angle with the wind, the direction of their flight may be changed by the air currents or by contact with the waves. The direction is also modified, when passing close to the water, by immersing the tail fin and moving it with a rudder like motion.
There are two groups of Flying Fishes, both natives of tropical and sub-tropical seas. In one of the groups there are less than five species, while classed under the other there are fifty or more.
EDITOR'S NOTE.
On account of inaccuracies in the report of Mr. Chapman's lecture, which was quoted in the [ June number] of this Magazine, it is only due to Mr. Chapman that we publish the following letter received from him:
To the Editor of Birds and Nature:
Dear Sir:—In the June issue of your magazine there appeared an alleged abstract from a lecture by me on the "Structure and Habits of Birds," which so abounds in errors that I beg you will permit me to state that the matter published was a newspaper report, for which I am in no way responsible. Yours respectfully,
Frank M. Chapman.
Transcriber's Note:
- Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
- Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant form was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
- Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
- The Contents table was added by the transcriber.