Description of the Species 157 



spent at sea, where its full growth and sexual 

 maturity are attained. It is the general opinion 

 of authorities that the quinnat does not wander 

 far from the mouth of the stream in which it 

 was hatched ; for this reason, and not because 

 of any special homing instinct, it is likely to 

 return to its native river when impelled by the 

 spawning instinct to enter fresh water. Salmon, 

 when seeking fresh water, will sometimes, how- 

 ever, try to ascend rivulets flowing into the 

 sea too small to permit of the passage of such 

 fish at any time. It is a common practice for 

 natives in the Aleutian Islands to seine salmon 

 in abundance along shores where there are no 

 streams whatever, the fish remaining persistently 

 within a few feet of the beaches where there 

 is considerable seepage from the moss-covered 

 hills. This fact shows that they will enter streams 

 other than those from which they were derived. 

 Up to the time the fish enters a stream and 

 begins its migration to the spawning grounds, 

 it continues to feed ; but when once its up-stream 

 journey is fairly begun, it loses the ability to eat, 

 owing to the atrophy of its digestive organs. 



When just in from the ocean, the quinnat is a 

 handsome, resplendent, shapely fish, although its 



