Chap. XII. FISHES. 3 



" furies is very severe. They also use their lateral spines 

 " with such fatal effect, that I have seen one during a 

 " battle absolutely rip his opponent quite open, so that 

 " he sank to the bottom and died." When a fish is 

 conquered, " his gallant bearing forsakes him ; his gay 

 " colours fade away ; and he hides his disgrace among 

 " his peaceable companions, but is for some time the 

 " constant object of his conqueror's persecution." 



The male salmon is as j)ugnacious as the little stickle- 

 back; and so is the male trout, as I hear from Dr. 

 Gunther. Mr. Shaw saw a violent contest between two 

 male salmons which lasted the whole day ; and Mr. R. 

 Buist, Superintendent of Fisheries, informs me that he 

 has often watched from the bridge at Perth the males 

 driving away their rivals whilst the females were spawn- 

 ing. The males " are constantly fighting and tearing 

 " each other on the spawning-beds, and many so injure 

 '* each other as to cause the death of numbers, many 

 " being seen swimming near the banks of the river in 

 '* a state of exhaustion, and apparently in a dying 

 state." ^ The keeper of the Stormontfield breeding- 

 ponds visited, as Mr. Buist informs me, in June, 1868, 

 the northern Tyne, and found about 300 dead salmon, 

 all of which with one exception were males ; and he was 

 convinced that they had lost their lives by fighting. 



The most curious point about the male salmon is 

 that durino^ the breeding-season, besides a slii2:ht chano-e 

 in colour, " the lower jaw elongates, and a cartilaginous 

 " projection turns upwards from the point, which, when 

 " the jaws are closed, occupies a deep cavity between 



5 'The Field/ June 29th, 1867. For Mr. Shaw's statement, see 

 ' Edinburgh Review,' 1843. Another experienced observer (Scrope's 

 ' Days of Salmon Fishing,' p. 60) remarks that the male would, if he 

 could, keep, like the stag, all other males away. 



B 2 



