THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 325 



descending to the sea in the second or third spring the parr assumes a bright silvery 

 coat, and is then known as a smolt. After a sojourn in salt water lasting from four 

 months to about two years it may return to its native river, either as a sexually 

 immature Salmon or as a grilse, the female not yet ready for reproducing its species 

 though the male is sexually mature. The landlocked variety of the Atlantic 

 Salmon has been variously denominated Fresh-water Salmon, Schoodic Trout, 

 Sebago Trout, Dwarf Salmon and Winninish, the last in use in the Saginaw region. 

 In some Nova Scotian rivers a misnomer, Grayling, is applied to the Landlocked 

 Salmon. 



This species inhabits the North Atlantic, ascending rivers of Europe and Amer- 

 ica for the purpose of reproduction. In Europe it extends southward to France, 

 and in the United States the most southern river in which specimens have been 

 obtained is the Potomac. It occurs in small numbers in the Delaware and in larg-e 



o 



numbers in the Hudson, but in the last three river basins mentioned its presence is 



ATLANTIC SALMON. 



the result of artificial introduction. It is not found in abundance south of the 

 Merrimack, and in rivers of New England and Canada in which it is native it is 

 maintained almost exclusively by artificial culture. Its occurrence in Lake Cham- 

 plain, the St. Lawrence River, and tributaries of Lake Ontario is due also to 

 modern fish culture. The usual weight of the Atlantic Salmon ranges from 15 to 

 40 pounds, but individuals weighing 60 pounds have been recorded. The growth of 

 the Salmon is accomplished chiefly in the ocean. As a rule the adults enter the 

 rivers on a rising temperature when ready to deposit their eggs, the spawning occur- 

 ring on the falling temperature in water not warmer than 50. The time of entering 

 the Delaware and Hudson is April, the Connecticut a little later, the Merrimack 

 still later; to the Penobscot the Salmon come most abundantly in June and July, 

 and to the Miramichi from the middle of June to October. The Salmon is not 

 much affected by changes in temperature of the water, enduring a range of fully 

 45. The eggs are deposited in shoal water on sandy or gravelly bottom, the parent 

 fish making deep depressions by means of their noses or by flopping motions of 



