FURTHER NOTES ON SALMONID^E 205 



school to return, as Sir Herbert indicates, is still mysterious, 

 unless they are all too old. 



The notes I made regarding the two fish which our party 

 killed on the Gruinard in May 1883 I think have interest 

 in this connection. These two fish were females full of ripe 

 ova, as was seen when they were cut up to be made kippers 

 of. And yet these two fish had fully-formed hooks on their 

 lower jaws, like male fish. They would most certainly, I 

 consider, have spawned within a few days possibly hours- 

 yet they were clear and silvery and fresh run from the sea. 



The instance I save of a female fish which I handled 



o 



on the Deveron in April 1897, had almost completed the 

 process of spawning, as we found ripe ova on the outside of 

 the vent, but could not press out any more. I returned the 

 fish to the water, in accordance with the law. That fish 

 had, whilst in this condition, taken a phantom-minnow. I 

 consider that all three fish alluded to above were old fis/t 

 and late fish, and illustrate what I wish to show, both upon 

 a river which has a large reservoir at its head-waters, as the 

 Gruinard has, and a river which has no such reservoir along 

 its whole course, like the Deveron. I can also instance a fish 

 caught on Loch Eilt this season as late as the 29th July 

 which was full of well-developed ova. 



I can scarcely agree with Sir Herbert in his remark that 

 the run of winter fish is continuous with the run of smaller 

 springers, just as the heaviest sea-trout precede their smaller 

 congeners in August. If we admit this, at least we must re- 

 member that a considerable hiatus takes place during most of 

 May, most of June, and the first half of July, and also that all 

 sea-trout running previous to the spring tides nearest to the 

 middle of July rest and accumulate in the resting-pools of 

 Ailort and Morar, and will scarcely ever look at a fly in these 

 pools. A few fish rise to fly on very exceptional occasions on 

 Loch Eilt in June and before middle of July ; but these, when 

 caught, are found to be old (i.e. black) fish, and not Ai on 

 the table. Most, however, are caught by trolling. Instead 

 of Sir Herbert's remark about the continuity of the winter and 

 spring runs, I would be inclined to say the end of the winter 

 and the first of the next season's runs dovetail only, how- 

 ever, to a small extent. As regards the seasons for late and 



