ATKINS THE SALMON AND ITS ARTIFICIAL CULTURE. 335 



the salmon placed in the pond at Bucksport and not caught out again in 

 the fall, many staid of their own accord through the winter in the pond, 

 and only left on occasions of floods in the spring. In the rivers of Xova 

 Scotia the same phenomenon is observed.* 



(7/.) The I'elt. — The salmon seen on their return to the sea are always 

 in miserable condition, thin, black, and weak, and jioorer than at the 

 completion of the act of spawning. The fish kept over winter in the 

 pond at Bucksport lost in weight meanwhile, but had regained, to a great 

 degree, the bright, silvery color of the fresh-run fish. 



(7 g.) Habits of salmon after leaving fresh water. — Of the movements 

 of the salmon after this there is as little known as there is of their 

 movements during the growth from smolt to grilse, and from grilse to 

 adult. It can be safely said that they are feeding ; but of the location 

 of their feeding- grounds and of the nature of their food scarce any- 

 thing is known. At their disappearance and at their re-appearance their 

 stomachs are alike empty of food, except in rare instances. At East- 

 port, Captain Treat has found herring as long as five inches, in the 

 stomachs of salmon, and on the Penobscot some old fishermen tell of 

 having occasionally found their stomachs full of " shrimps," by which 

 term they doubtless mean some small crustacean. They are also known 

 to occasionally bite at the baits on cod and hake hooks on soundings. 



The length of their stay in the sea between the visits to the rivers is a 

 matter of entire uncertainty ; though it would hardly seem possible for 

 the emaciated kelts that descend in the spring to recover condition soon 

 enough to return the same year to the rivers. As some hundreds of 

 specimens have been marked and dismissed in good health, as detailed 

 in the narrative of the work at Bucksport, it is confidently anticipated 

 that some of them will be taken on their return, and afford data for r,n 

 estimate of the length of their stay in the sea, and of the rate of growth 

 meanwhile. 



5 . __ . 



* Letter of Dr. J. B. Gilpiu. 



