36 Transactions. 



not run by clay, but by night. Only during a spate would they 

 run by day. Some nights they did not run at all. On other 

 nights three or four went up, which was a hirge number for that 

 stream. Tlie early fish were mostly males. It was quite excep- 

 tional to get a female very early in the season. Later on they 

 found both sexes coming up. I also found that they almost 

 invariably run on spring tides, and that they did so whether there 

 was a spate or not. A westerly gale during the spring tides was 

 followed, as expected, by a run of fish. I noticed one pair of fish 

 particularly that came up lately. They had evidently been 

 prevented ascending the stream before. They came to a suitable 

 place, where they constructed a redd and dejDOsited the ova. 

 This took about a week. I then took away the female and placed 

 her in a tank, and waited to .see what the other fish would do. I 

 thought it probable that he would go up stream and try to 

 find another female. But he dropped back into the next pool 

 further down stream, and remained there two days and two 

 nights ; on the third night he dropped down three pools further ; 

 then into another pool further down stream ; and from there I 

 concluded he had gone down to the sea. Fish having spawned, 

 e\'idently have a desire to get away again to the sea ; and I 

 believe it is often owing to their not being able to get away 

 with sufficient rapidity that they were attacked by the horrible 

 fungus which abounds in our rivers in some seasons. A remark- 

 able fact which I observed was the appearance in the stream of 

 four sjDent female fish, which I was perfectly satisfied had not 

 been in the stream before. I concluded that they were Nith 

 salmon which had descended that river after spawning, and, for 

 some reason, went up this little bit of a stream for about three 

 miles. Unfortunately, owing to some misunderstanding, and a 

 complaint by the tacksman that the fish were being interfered 

 ■with, the observations were brought prematurely to a close. It 

 is only, however, when observations of this nature were made on 

 most of our streams, and reports sent in to some central com- 

 mittee, to be investigated and classified, as has already been done 

 in the case of birds — when all those who are personally interested 

 in our fisheries bestir themselves and investigate the facts in 

 connection therewith, or place facilities in the liands of others 

 who can do it for them — that we can expect to unravel the 

 mysteries of nature. 



We shall scarcely notice the well-established fact that instinct 



