NATURAL HISTORY. 



Family IV. Salmonidoe. 

 SALMO. (Lat. a Salmon.) 



433 



Salar. 



been accomplished, it returns to the sea in the spring. The 

 perseverance of this fish in working its way up the stream is 

 perfectly wonderful. No stream is rapid enough to daunt it, 

 nor is it even checked by falls. These it surmounts by spring- 

 ing out of the water, fairly passing over the fall. Heights of 

 fouteeen or fifteen feet arc constantly leaped by this powerful 

 fish, and when it has arrived at the higher and shallower parts 

 of the river, it scoops furrows in the gravelly bottom, and there 

 deposits its spawn. The young, called "fry," are hatched 

 about March, and immediately commence their retreat to the 

 sea. By the end of May the young salmon, now called " smolts," 

 have almost entirely deserted the rivers, and in June not one is 

 to be found in fresh water. Small Salmon weighing less than 

 two pounds are termed " salmon peel," all above that weight 

 are called " grilse." 



The havoc wrought among Salmon by foes of every descrip- 

 tion is so enormous, that notwithstanding the great fecundity 

 of the fish, it is a matter of surprise that so many escape des- 

 truction ; for although the fish are preserved from their human 

 foes by many stringent regulations, yet other foes, such as otters, 

 who devour the large fish, and other fish who devour the spawn, 

 have but little fespect for laws and regulations. 



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