The shape of the body of the perch is well proportioned, but many variations occur, some specimens being very high-backed, others low and long-bodied. Sometimes such variations are local, and Agassiz and other naturalists at one time thought it possible to distinguish two species of the common perch of Europe; but it can be separated specifically from the North American form. The brilliant colors of the perch render it easily recognizable even at a distance. A rich greenish-brown, with golden reflections, covers the back and sides, which are crossed with five or seven bands. A large black spot covers the membrane between the last spines of the dorsal fin, and the lower parts are bright vermillion. In the large, peaty lakes of North Germany a beautiful variety is not uncommon, in which the golden tinge prevails, as in a gold-fish. The perch is carnivorous and voracious. It wanders about in small shoals within a certain district, playing havoc among small fishes, and is therefore objectionable in waters where more valuable fry is cultivated. Perch of three pounds in weight are often caught; one of five would now be regarded as an extraordinary specimen, though in rare instances we read of individuals exceeding even that weight. An old fisherman, Mr. George Northrup, a man of rare intelligence, tells us that of thousands of perch caught by him he never took one that weighed above three pounds. Perch are good, wholesome food and highly esteemed in inland countries where marine fish can be obtained only with difficulty. The nearly allied pike-perch is one of the best European food fishes. It is very prolific, begins to spawn when three years old, in April or May, depositing the ova on water plants. MOUNTING OF BIRDS. The mounting of birds and the small animals of the field and forest is an art which is possessed by few people, yet which is not difficult and which especially appeals to the lover of nature. It is an art which it is well worth while popularizing, for it can be made the vehicle for the expression of a great deal of beauty, while preserving and making use, in the interests of scientific study, of materials which otherwise would be irretrievably lost. There has been need for some time of an authoritative work on the subject, something which would enable the amateur to mount birds and animals and which would be full and complete as to the information it conveyed. This want has been met by Mr. John Rowley, the chief of the Department of Taxidermy in the American Museum of Natural History, who has written a convenient volume of something over two hundred pages on "The Art of Taxidermy," which has just been published by the Appletons. In the foreword with which the author introduces the book he says that the name "taxidermy" was formerly applied to the trade of most inartistically upholstering a skin, but that of late years it has made wonderful strides. BIRDS IN TOWN. ELLA F. MOSBY.