18 G. EOOPER — THE SALMON. 



formation of tlie redd. Here, the process being completed, the 

 eggs remain during a period of from 120 to 140 days, according to 

 the temperature of the water. At the expiration of that time, the 

 little fish come into existence, and after a few days wriggle out of 

 their gravelly bed and seek refuge under some rock or stone 

 adjacent, where they remain in safety for 12 or 14 days longer. 



The appearance of the young fish at that time gives little promise 

 of the beautiful form which they subsequently attain. They 

 are indeed shapeless little monsters, more like tadpoles than fish, 

 each furnished with a little bag of nutriment forming a portion of 

 the abdomen. On this, for two or thi'ee weeks, they subsist, until, 

 on its being absorbed, they take the form and assume the rank of 

 fishes. They are then about one inch in length, and are known 

 as salmon fry or samlets — the second stage. Some of the eggs 

 are washed down the stream during the process of spawning, and 

 become the prey of trout and other fish which swim near the redds 

 for the purpose of feeding on them. In this they do no harm 

 whatever, for these eggs, being uncovered and unfecundated, 

 could never arrive at maturity. 



The kippers, when not actually engaged in the spawning process, 

 swim rapidly about the redd, fighting fiercely with one another. 

 The use of their beak, which I have described, appears to me 

 then to come into operation. Mr. Pennell, in his volume of the 

 Badminton Library, and many other authors, erroneously describe 

 this beak either as a weapon of offence, or as a sort of pickaxe 

 used in digging out the redd. It seems to me that nature has 

 provided this singular excrescence as a protection and safeguard 

 against the savage attacks made by the fish on each other. So 

 large is its size, and so closely does it fit into a hole or socket 

 formed in the upper jaw, that it would appear almost impossible 

 for the fish even to open his mouth ; but he does so, to some 

 extent at least, and with his cat-like teeth inflicts deep, and some- 

 times dangerous, wounds on his antagonists. As for its alleged 

 use as a digging implement, it is out of the question. The 

 substance of the beak is cartilaginous, not horny, and by no means 

 hard ; it would be worn down in the process of digging in ten 

 minutes, and, as I said, the female alone prepares the redd. This 

 suggestion, I may remark, is entirely original. 



After leaving the stone or rock under which it has sought pro- 

 tection, the growth of the young fish is very rapid, as is natural in 

 a creature destined to attain such huge dimensions as the salmon 

 is capable of: one of 83 lbs. in weight is recorded by Yarrell as 

 having been captured. In the course of a month or six weeks the 

 fry have attained to the length of four inches, and are then called 

 "parr" — the third stage in their existence. The parrs bear con- 

 spicuously on their bodies transverse marks or bars, which are 

 common to the young of every member of the salmon family. 

 Unfortunately, there is another little fish, a humble relation of 

 the lordly salmon, also barred, very similar in appearance, which 

 too is called a parr, and the identity in name and similarity in 



