Animal life in the sea and on the land . water, the truth of the mat-ter is they live in continual warfare,first pursuing their prey, and then, inturn, flying from their own have probably more to suffer in this way than other animals, for a great many enemiesare waiting to pounce upon them, their eggs, and theiryoung ones. 14. Flying-fishes. — Flying-fishes (Fig. 127) often leapinto the air in large companies to escape pursuit, andtheir blue bodies and silvery wings glisten prettily in thesunlight. Even here they sometimes meet with new dan-gers from the greedy gulls and other sea
Animal life in the sea and on the land . water, the truth of the mat-ter is they live in continual warfare,first pursuing their prey, and then, inturn, flying from their own have probably more to suffer in this way than other animals, for a great many enemiesare waiting to pounce upon them, their eggs, and theiryoung ones. 14. Flying-fishes. — Flying-fishes (Fig. 127) often leapinto the air in large companies to escape pursuit, andtheir blue bodies and silvery wings glisten prettily in thesunlight. Even here they sometimes meet with new dan-gers from the greedy gulls and other sea-birds, so theyfind safety neither in the water nor in the air. The large Fig. 126.—Plan ofCirculation inFishes. a, auricle; b, ventri-cle; c, branchial ar-tery; e, branchialveins, bringingblood from thegills, d, and miningin the aorta, /; g,vena cava. FISHES. 199 fins of these fishes act like wings, and enable them to takelong, low leaps into the air, but they have no power ofraising themselves after having once left the water. *V-. 127.—Flying-fish. 15. The Eggs of Fishes.—The eggs of fishes are tinyaffairs, covered with a thin skin, so transparent that theyoung fish may be seen tumbling around inside for a dayor two before it is hatched. When the baby-fishes firstleave the egg they swim about for some time with theyolk-bag hanging underneath the body; they take no foodduring this time, but are nourished by the oily contentsof the yolk-bag. 16. Fishes produce large quantities of eggs, a singlecod-roe, for instance, having been found to contain ninemillion eggs; but, as we have just seen, a very large pro-portion of the young fishes are devoured; being helplesslittle creatures, they fall an easy prey to their largerneighbors. 17. Care of the Young.—Generally, fishes take no careof their eggs or their young ones. There are exceptions, 200 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE SEA AND ON THE LAND. however, to this rule, and some kinds of fishes preparenests in the bottom of streams, like
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1887
