FISHES SALMONIDAE FARIO STELLATUS. 317 



Puget's Sound, W. T., by Dr. George Buckley, who made the following ohservations as to their 

 coloration: " Bands under chin very pale and faint vermilion ; general appearance of the fish 

 exsanguine ; flesh soft and flabby, as if exhausted from spawning. Head, body, and fins profusely 

 spotted with black. Back light olive ; belly light yellowish white. The whole fish has a glistening 

 silvery appearance, but not a healthy one ; it was caught with metal squid in the brackish water 

 of the junction of brook current and tide water. Six weeks later (in February) I caught a half 

 dozen of these fishes in one day, one of which, a male, weighed two pounds. This I caught 

 ■with a fly ; it appeared almost overflowing with milt^ and. the females could hardly be shaken 

 without discharging plentifully mature ova. I regret that my departure from here is so 

 immediate that I cannot institute thorough inquiries concerning them. The settlers say that 

 the brook trout does not run up in large quantities from the salt water until the fall. This I 

 doubt, as I know of a stream, some fifteen miles from Fort Steilacoom, where they are plentiful 

 in June. At any rate this trout appears to be very different in its habits from our eastern 

 brook trout. Its flesh is more dry, and quite tasteless, compared, to the latter. It rises rapidly 

 to the fly, and appears to have but little regard whether the feathers have a natural appearance 

 or not." 



Elsewhere he says: "Specimen caught in Steilacoom creek ; water brackish. Bands under 

 the chin very pale vermilion or orange ; general appearance of fish exsanguine, probably owing 

 to the season ; general aspect silvery ; back light olive ; belly light yellowish white. Head, 

 fins, and body profusely spotted with black. Caught with the spoon." 



And still further, under date of April 8, after preparing a skin, the Doctor records : 

 " Brook trout, called opskalloo by the Wasco Indians, a male. Flesh yellowish pink. Spots 

 on the body numerous, irregular, and lighter in the centre. Those on dorsal and caudal fin 

 like those of salmon trout (Fario tsuppitcli). Black spots are also found on the cheeks, opercle, 

 &c.; color of back bright silvery olive, becoming lighter on the sides and bright silver on the 

 belly. Pectoral and ventral fins orange and vermilion. Patch of vermilion on each side, under 

 the chin." And again, under same date: "Two small brook trout, males. Caught in the 

 same stream as preceding. Spots less numerous, vermilion bands and patches under chin 

 icanting. Flesh white. They commenced to run up this season (1855) about the 10th of 

 February." 



The name of " brook trout" here applied to this species by Dr. Suckley is merely optional 

 with him ; it is the " common trout " of the settlers of Oregon and Washington Territories. 



Other specimens were collected at Portland, Oregon Territory, by Dr. Greorge Suckley ; at 

 Shoalwater bay, Washington Territory, by Dr. James Gr. Cooper ; both under G-overnor I. I. 

 Stevens ; at Cape Flattery, Washington Territory, Astoria, Oregon Territory, and Humboldt 

 bay, by Lieutenant W. P. Trowbridge ; and finally, in the upper Des Chutes river, Oregon Ter- 

 ritory, by Dr. John S. Newberry, under Lieutenant K. S. Williamson. 



References to the figures. — Plate LXIX, fig. 5, represents Fario stellatus, somewhat reduced 

 from a specimen caught at Fort Steilacoom, Puget's Sound. Fig. 6 is a scale from the dorsal 

 region, midway between the dorsal fin and the lateral line. Fig. 1, a scale from the lateral 

 line in the middle of its course. Fig. 8, a scale from the abdominal region, midway between 

 the lateral line and the insertion of the ventrals. 



