120 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



tbe west coast, makes the following reference to tlie spawning habits 

 of salmon : 



The conjunctiou of natural causcH assisting saluiou in all movements and in depos- 

 iting eggs is as interesting as beautiful. In the oporation of spawning, from my 

 own observation, the salmon, on arriving at the place selected, remain quiet until 

 recovered from the effects of the long journey from the sea, and for this purpose 

 they select a pool where there is protection or concealment, under driftwood or over- 

 hanging bank. In pairs, male and female, they build nests, generally in the swift 

 water on the ripple above or below the pool, the male guarding it with great jeal- 

 ousy, fighting away all intruders. The pool serves as a place of concealment during 

 the day, the salmon spawning and making tbe nest at night or early in the morning, 

 continuing during the day if the sky is overcast. The act of spawning may go on 

 at intervals for a week before all tbe eggs are deposited. The construction of the 

 nest is commenced by digging an elongated hole up and down stream, the fish using 

 the snout and fins in making tbe excavation, throwing out sand and gravel in 

 volumes. The stones and gravel are carried by the current below tbe excavation, 

 forming a nest cov<'ring a space sometimes more than 6 feet in diameter, tbe small 

 particles of sand and dirt being carried farther downstream. It seems striinge that 

 a collection of stone and pebbles should form a fish nest, yet nature has made it very 

 simple, and secured results in a matter-of-fact way. The eggs are deposited in the 

 hole by the female and impregnated by the male, the eggs clinging together in a 

 mass and to the bottom, thirty to fifty minutes, at tbe end of which time they 

 commence to separate. The gentle current sweeping through tbe trough-like hole 

 carries each egg out of the excavation as it becomes detached from the mass and on 

 to the nest of stones below, where it tumbles from one to another until it drops into 

 one of the crevices, eventually finding its way to the bottom of tbe pile or nest, and 

 there, lying securely bidden away, well protected from predatory fish, it finally 

 hatches. It takes from forty to sixty days for the eggs to batch, the time depending 

 upon the temperature of water. After hatching tbe fish remain in the nest about 

 twenty days, until the umbilical sac is exhausted, having during this time but one 

 instinct, to hide and burrow deeper in the nest. 



Steelhead salmon. — At the first haul of the seine in October a steel- 

 head was caught, and subsequently 16 more were obtained from the 

 Indian dam in the vicinity. These were placed in a small pond and 

 held for the purpose of obtaining their eggs, but none was secured. 



Rainbow trout— In addition to the brood fish already on hand, 14 

 large specimens were obtained in October from a pond at the Indian 

 agency. The eggs from these in March and April were sufficient to 

 produce 100,000 fry, 20,000 of which were liberated in local waters in 

 May, the remainder being carried over into the next fiscal year. 



The mean temperature of the air in March was 43° F. and of the 

 water 44°, in April 44.5° and 44.1°. The snow-fall was so great that 

 on April 22 the snow was over 5 feet deep, hard packed, on the road 

 where it crosses the mountains. The fishes remaining on hand at end 

 of the fiscal year, June 30, 1893, are stated below: 



