THE HABITS OF SALMON 153 



I should add that in neither river are there any natural 

 or artificial obstructions. There used to be cruives in the 

 Amhuinn Aodh, but these were removed when Mr. James 

 Baird bought Inverie about fifty years ago. 



Here, then, are two rivers (I might mention several 

 more) where salmon are protected and encouraged solely 

 for the object of sport, yet no spring fish ever shows his 

 nose in them. I greatly doubt whether it would be practi- 

 cable to introduce an early run of fish into them. Possibly 

 the seasonal movements of herring and other food-fishes have 

 something to do with the advent of salmon to the estuaries ; 

 but here we enter upon purely speculative ground. 



I will conclude by observing that of all the rivers known 

 to me which give spring fish, there is not one which does not 

 either flow out of an easily accessible reservoir, like Loch 

 Tay, or contain in its course a large extent of still, deep, 

 canal -like water, like No. 4 beat on the Helmsdale, the 

 " dubs " of the Tweed, and the so-called Loch Ken on the 

 Kirkcudbright Dee ; or both these features, like the Thurso. 



Features such as these may be pronounced indispensable 

 to attracting spring salmon, but their presence does not 

 necessarily ensure that spring salmon will be attracted by 

 them. The Amhuinn Aodh above referred to is a typical 

 example of many such Highland streams, affording an easy 

 run into a deep reservoir, to which no spring salmon resort ; 

 but a more conspicuous instance is that of the Bann, a noble 

 stream issuing from the broad expanse of Lough Neagh, 

 into which river no salmon runs till May ; while the ditch- 

 like Bush, some six miles to the east and flowing into the 

 same bay, affords excellent spring salmon angling in 

 February, March, and April. Nearer home there are the 

 Doon and the Ayr, with their mouths less than three miles 

 apart. The first, flowing out of Loch Doon, receives an 

 abundant run of spring fish ; the second, .with neither 

 reservoir nor long, deep reaches, gives nothing to the 

 salmon angler till late summer and autumn. Of these 

 two streams, the Doon is far more severely netted than 

 the Ayr. 



I trust that Mr. Harvie-Brown will find in these notes 

 no trace of disrespect to him as an eminent naturalist. 



