46 SALMONID.E. 



" The fact of the young Salmon propagating its kind while 

 it is yet itself in other respects in an immature condition, is 

 certainly an extraordinary departure from the ordinary laws of 

 nature, so far, at least, as land animals are concerned. From 

 certain observed facts, however, there is reason to believe that 

 the economy of the class of fishes differs in this respect from 

 that of land animals a disparity which, in consequence of 

 the medium they inhabit, has hitherto escaped the observation 

 of the naturalist. As the young of the other migratory spe- 

 cies do not quit the river during the first year, it is probable 

 that they also observe a similar economy to that of their more 

 valuable congener. 



" It has been generally supposed that the male Salmon, 

 during the spawning season, assists the female in forming the 

 spawning bed. This idea is, I think, founded in error, as, 

 during the whole course of my experience, I have never been 

 able to detect the male taking any share whatever in the more 

 laborious portion of these parental duties. The only part he 

 performs, beyond the mere sexual function, consists in the 

 unwearied vigilance which he exhibits in protecting the 

 spawning-bed from the intrusion of rival males, all of which 

 he assiduously endeavours to expel. The female, regardless 

 of the occasional absence of the males during these contests, 

 and probably satisfied with the presence of the male Parrs, 

 proceeds with her operations by throwing herself at intervals 

 of a few minutes upon her side, and while in that position, by 

 the rapid action of her tail,* she digs a receptacle in the 

 gravel for her ova, a portion of which she deposits, and, again 

 turning upon her side, she covers it up by a renewed action 



* I am aware it has been a matter of dispute amongst observers as to which 

 of the two extremities of the fish is employed in the formation of the spawning- 

 bed. However, from late opportunities of observation, which rarely occur, 

 owing to the turbid state of the river in the spawning season, I am now satisfied 

 that it is by the action of the caudal extremity alone that the gravel is removed. 



