. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana. Natural history; Birds. 252 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. circle, then with a sudden straight rush, then a circle and so on, all apparently without a single wing beat. When thus high in air they have a most peculiar arrow-shaped appearance; thin sharp beak, slender neck and body, and broad, fan- shaped tail. While the launch was puffing slowly along we saw one of the most unexpected sights of the trip — a fresh-water flying fish Carnegiella strigalus. It did not leave the sur- face en
. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana. Natural history; Birds. 252 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. circle, then with a sudden straight rush, then a circle and so on, all apparently without a single wing beat. When thus high in air they have a most peculiar arrow-shaped appearance; thin sharp beak, slender neck and body, and broad, fan- shaped tail. While the launch was puffing slowly along we saw one of the most unexpected sights of the trip — a fresh-water flying fish Carnegiella strigalus. It did not leave the sur- face entirely but skimmed steadily along in a straight line with the tip of the deep keel of the abdomen just cutting the. Fig. 105. \ter Flying Fish. surface. It was small, not more than two inches long, and of the greatest interest to us at that time, as wc did not then know that such a thing as a fresh-water flying fish existed. To see a silvery litde form break from the mirror-like surface of the river and go skimming off through the air left us amazed. Thesi; fish were silvery in color, marked with irregular black markings, with long, wing-like pectoral fins and a remarkably deep keel, like the keel of a racing vacht. As we went on, the walls of foliage became higher and more dense, stretching up, far up above our heads, until the topmost branches were from one hundred to one hundred and twenty- five feet above the water. INIajestic vistas opened out ahead. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Beebe, Mary; Beebe, William, 1877-1962, joint author. London, Constable
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, books, booksubjectnaturalhistory
