THE SALMON. 449 



to return at once to the sea ; the more tardy ones often remain all winter, 

 and are carried out by the spring freshets. Salmon eggs are not injured 

 by freezing, and the fish are unquestionably quite as hardy. English 

 fish-culturists claim that their Salmon will not thrive where the water is 

 warmer than 60°, or at most 65° in the summer, but Mr. Atkins kept fish 

 in his ponds at Bucksport, Maine, with the water at the bottom as warm 

 as 74° at midday, the means of bottom and surface temperature for June, 

 July, August, September, and October, 1872, being 60°. 6, 65°. 9, 69°. 8, 

 59°. 50°-3. and 72°. 9, 73°.!, 73°. 6, 62°. 2, 54°.3-. respectively. In the 

 Gaspe Salmon streams, where the fish are in the perfection of activity, the 

 temperature of the ])Ools in July ranges from 30^4° to 59°. 



Leaving the open ocean they enter the bays, where they remain for 

 several weeks, becoming inured to brackish water, feeding liberally on the 

 small estuary fishes, such as smelts, capelins, and the fry of the herring 

 tribe. When they begin to ascend the rivers they seldom pause even to 

 feed. Sometimes they rest in the quiet pools, and it is then that they 

 condescend to notice the fly-hook of the anglers. It is the dryest season 

 of the year, and they are often obliged to wait until the streams are 

 raised by rain, and then they bravely struggle onward, springing with 

 agility over falls of considerable height. Most of them proceed at once to 

 the vicinity of the spawning ground, which is near the source of some cool 

 stream. On the Penobscot, the earliest reach the limits of upward migra- 

 tion before midsummer. Spawning begins here during the last week in 

 October, and continues into November, while in the Gaspe region it is a 

 week or two earlier, though everywhere the season is in late autumn. 



At the approach of the jjairing season their trim shapes and bright 

 colors disappear. They grow lank and misshapen, the fins are thick 

 and fleshy, and the skin, which becomes thick and slimy, is blotched and 

 mottled with brown, green or blue, and vermilion or scarlet. These 

 changes are chiefly apparent in the males, whose jaws now become curved 

 so that they touch only at the tips, the lower one developing a large, 

 powerful hook, which is his weapon in the savage combats with his rivals 

 in which he at this period engages. When in this condition, and after 

 spawning, when they retrace their source to the sea, they are known as 

 "Kelts." 



The earliest arrive on the headwaters two or three months before 

 spawning time. As soon as the water is cool enough they proceed to 



