SALMON. 65 



of one half of a hexagon ; the scales moderate in size, oval 

 and thin, easily removed when young, adherent when old. 

 The fin-rays in number are 



D. 13 : P. 12 : V. 9 : A. 9 : C. 19. Vertebrae 60. 



Salmon, and indeed all the Salmonidte, like other fish that 

 swim near the surface of the water, cannot be eaten too fresh ; 

 its fine flavour, as well as its value, diminish rapidly after 

 capture. In London a Thames' 1 Salmon commands the high- 

 est price : the next is that sent up either from Woodmill 

 or Chris tchurch in Hampshire ; then those fish received from 

 the Severn, which are usually brought up by the mail from 

 Gloucester. 



A Thames' Salmon is a prize to a fisherman, -which, like 

 other prizes, occurs but seldom. The last Thames' Salmon I 

 have a note of was taken in June 1833. The appearance of 

 the Common Tern, or Sea-Swallow, which on its arrival in 

 May wings its flight for miles up the Thames, is the signal 

 to the fishermen to keep a good look-out for a Salmon : the 

 occasionally coincident reappearance of a Tern and a Salmon 

 has induced some of the Thames'* fishermen to apply to the 

 former the name of the Salmon-bird. 



Soon after the publication of the History of British Fishes 

 the Earl of Home did me the favour to write various com- 

 ments and notes on the Salmonida of the Tweed, in the 

 form of a letter to the Earl of Montague, dated January 10, 

 1837, and has since been kind enough to give me permission 

 to use them. The following refer to the Salmon : 



" Mr. Yarrell is correct as to the time of the spawning 

 of the Salmon in the Tweed. I must, however, be allowed 

 to make a remark on this subject : that in the Tweed a very 

 great change has taken place within these twenty or thirty 

 years : a considerable portion of the breeding-fish not coming 

 into breeding condition till long after the time they had 



VOL. II. F 



