THE YELLOW PERCH. 



{Perca fiuviatilis. ) 



THIS is a fresh-water fish and is 

 generally distributed over Eu- 

 rope, northern Asia, and North 

 America, and so well known as 

 to have been, it is said, selected for the 

 type of an entire family of spiny- 

 rayed fishes, the percidas, which is 

 represented in European fresh waters 

 by several other fishes such as the pope 

 and the pike-perch. It inhabits rivers 

 as well as lakes, and thrives best in 

 waters of a depth of not less than 

 three feet; in large, deep lakes it fre- 

 quently descends to depths of fifty 

 fathoms and more. It occurs in Scan- 

 dinavia as far north as the 69th par- 

 allel, but does not extend to Iceland 

 or any of the islands north of Europe. 

 In the Alps it ascends to an altitude 

 of four thousand feet. 



The shape of the body of the perch 

 is well proportioned, but many varia- 

 tions occur, some specimens being 

 very high-backed, others low and long- 

 bodied. Sometimes such variations 

 are local, and Agassiz and other nat- 

 uralists at one time thought it possible 

 to distinguish two species of the com- 

 mon perch of Europe; but it can be 

 separated specifically from the North 

 American form. The brilliant colors 

 of the perch render it easily recogniz- 

 able even at a distance. A rich green- 

 ish-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 ver- 

 million. In the large, peat}^ 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 vora- 

 cious. It wanders about in small 

 shoals within a certain district, playing 

 havoc among small fishes, and is there- 

 fore objectionable in waters where 

 more valuable fry is cultivated. Perch 

 of three pounds in weight are often 

 caught; one of five would now be re- 

 garded as an extraordinary specimen, 

 though in rare instances we read of 

 individuals exceeding even that weight. 

 An old fisherman, Mr. George North- 

 rup, 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 coun- 

 tries 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 pos- 

 sessed 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 popu- 

 larizing, 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 con- 

 veyed. This want has been met by 

 Mr. John Rowle)-, the chief of the De- 

 partment of Taxidermy in the Ameri- 

 can 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 ap- 

 plied to the trade of most inartistically 

 upholstering a skin, but that of late 

 years it has made wonderful strides. 



