Of the oddities which fish-life presents, probably none are more remarkable than the archer or shooter fishes (Toxotes), which inhabit the seas of Japan and of the Eastern Archipelago. When kept in confinement, these fishes may be seen to shoot drops of water from their elongated jaws at flies and other insects which attract their attention. They have been observed to strike their prey with unerring aim at distances of three or four feet. Another notable species of shooting-fishes is the Chætodon. This latter form possesses a prominent beak or muzzle, consisting of the elongated jaws; and from this beak, as from the barrel of a rifle, the fish shoots its watery missiles at the insects which alight on the vegetation fringing its native waters. The old saying which compares great helplessness to the state of a “fish out of water” does not always find a corroborative re-echo in natural history science. As every one knows, different fishes exhibit very varying degrees of tenacity to life when removed from their native element. Thus a herring dies almost immediately on being taken out of water; while, on the other hand, the slippery eels will bear removal from their habitat for twenty-four hours or longer; and we have known of blennies--such as the shanny (Blennius pholis)--surviving a long journey by post of some forty-eight hours’ duration, when packed amid some damp sea-weed in a box. But certain fishes are known not merely to live when taken out of water, but actually of themselves, and as part of their life and habits, to voluntarily leave the water and disport themselves on land. Of such abnormal fishes, the most famous is the climbing perch or Anabas scandens of India, which inhabits the Ganges, and is also found in other Asiatic ponds and rivers. These fishes may be seen to leave the water and to make their way overland, supporting themselves in their jerking gait by means of their strong spiny fins. They appear to migrate from one pool to another in search of “pastures new,” especially in the dry season, and when the water of their habitats becomes shallow. The Hindu name applied to these fishes means “climbers of trees”; and although statements have been made both by travelers and natives that the climbing perch has been found scaling the stems of trees, these accounts, we fear, must be regarded as of equal value with the native belief that the fishes fall in showers on the land from the skies. Of the power of the fishes to live for five or six days out of water, however, no doubt can be entertained; and their ability to support life under these unwonted conditions is explained by the fact that certain bones of the head are curiously contorted so as to form a labyrinth, amid the delicate recesses of which a supply of water is retained, for the purpose of keeping the gills moist.