86 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



has been said to the contrary, that there are some salmon 

 breeding over a very extended portion of the year. And 

 we know that in many rivers and on many occasions " kelts " 

 are found descending a river at many times in the year when 

 fresh fish are running up. On the river Deveron, in April 

 1897, I was assisting in landing by hand a fish hooked by 

 my cousin on a phantom minnow, when, to my astonishment, 

 fresh fully developed golden eggs flowed from her, but it was 

 evident that she had just almost completed the operation, 

 because upon gentle pressure no more ova escaped, and the 

 fish presented the appearance inseparable with fully spawned 

 females. Our laird an experienced angler told us he had 

 met with the same thing before, but was not prepared to try 

 and account for it. My only object in speaking of it in this 

 place, is to instance the fact that all fish (by which I mean 

 of course here all salmon) do not spawn during the winter 

 months. 



How much the theory of Mr. Hutchinson as regards a 

 natural provision or balance being made up by fish spawning 

 at various times of the year may be correct, I cannot say ; but 

 our experience of the baggit on the Deveron was certainly 

 not one met with every day. Elsewhere, I think I have 

 related how our Sutherland fishing party found brown trout 

 full of highly developed ova in the Gorm Lochs at the back 

 of Benmore of Assynt, and this as late as June. As snow 

 still lay, which was draining into these lochs, I was inclined 

 to put down this phenomenon to natural results of the 

 hatching temperature of the water. Indeed I think so 

 phenomenal an occurrence as regards brown trout as I have 

 just related could hardly have taken place were such phe- 

 nomenal temperatures not present. 



I will now give another instance of a salmon holding 

 fully developed ova at what must under our present 

 knowledge be considered an abnormal time. On the 

 river Gruinard, on iQth May 1883, I killed a fish upon the 

 Garden Pool which pool is just one above the Sea Pool, 

 and close under the garden of Gruinard House. It weighed 

 IO^> Ibs., and on the 23rd May my friend Mr. H. Alston 

 killed another, i i Ibs., in almost exactly the same place. 

 When these fish were viewed first the one, and then the 



