162 The Natural History of the Salmon, - 



few (lark spots on the gill covers, which extcud along the lateral line througn j 

 the entire length of the body. These are most conspicuous in . the females. - 

 The fins are then soft and the sides and belly covered with sea-lice. 



As spawning time approaches and the fish seek the swift, shallow waters 

 at the head of the streams, considerable changes take place in their appear- 

 ance. The male assumes the appearance known in England as " Eed" fish. 

 The sides take on an orange hue, paling into yellow on the belly, the spots 

 become of a bloody-red, and are seen on the dorsal and caudal fins ; the back ; 

 l)ecomes greenish, and the cheek is striped with orange. The lower jaw also 

 elongates into a hooked cartilaginous excrescence, which fits into the upper. 

 The females grow darker, particularly upon the back, fins, and gill-covers, 

 and are now called " Blitck" fish. 



After spawning they are lank and lean, with heads m.uch larger in 

 proportion to their bodies. The females change to a greyish color on the 

 back and yellow on the sides, with red and dusky spots alternating abova 

 the lateral line, and extended upon the dorsal and caudal fins, while the 

 pectoral, ventral, and anal fins become of a blueish grey. They are nov; 

 called Kelts. 



In the classification- given on the thirtieth p?^s of this magazine, the ■ 

 Salmon belongs to the order called Cycloids ; in the system heretofore in use, 

 it falls under the order of soft-rayed abdominal fishes ; family Salmonidagf 

 genus Salmo : specific name, Salmo salar. 



The bodv is covered with thin oval scales, but the head is smooth or 

 free from scales. There are two dorsal fins, the first with thirteen rays, the 

 second fatty, long and rounded, and without any rays. The pectoral fins 

 have twelve rays, and the ventral nine, the anal fin nin^, and the caudal 

 nineteen. The head is one-fifth of the whole length of the fish, the eyes are 

 small, and the nostrils are placed much nearer to the eyes than to the point 

 of the nose.. The lateral line is straight, and rans very nearly through the 

 centre. In adults, the caudal fin is lunated, but in the young fish it is 

 considerably forked. The branchiostegous rays, or bony rays of the gill- 

 covers, are usually from ten to twelve, but are not always the same on both 

 sides. It has strong sharp teeth on all the maxillary and both palatine bones ; 

 there are one or two teeth, rarely more than two, and frequently but one, on 

 the vomer, and three to five on the tongue. 



Such are some of the leading features by which this beautiful fish mtiy 

 be distinguished, beautiful indeed, whether it swims in its native element, its 

 sides sparkling like molten silver, or smoking on the table it gTaces the 

 beginning of the feast. 



As soon as the rivers are free from ice, say from the middle of May to 

 the first of June, the Sahnon, grown fat and silvery on their sea-found food, 

 appear in the Estuaries, where they usually remain for a time, going up with 

 the flood and returning with the Ebb. In those rivers of Great Britain 

 which run clear as early as February, they have been observed to make a 

 second migration to the sea before running up to spawn. I am not informed. 

 'Wtiether this has been observed in any of the Salmon rivers of the Provinces, 



