5 
deposit ova and milt in the spawning beds. After they 
have spawned they return to the sea, and if they come 
back next year, my opinion is that it is in the form of a 
salmon—a change corresponding to that of the heifer into a 
cow after her first calf. This, however, is one of the points 
on which naturalists differ. 
The young of the bull-trout are like the young of the 
true salmon—first parr and then smolts. When they 
return from the sea, they go to the higher parts of the 
river, and are known as “ orange-fins,’ being distinguishable 
by a yellow colour on the belly.* 
It would appear that many of the grilse and salmon, 
though sufficiently advanced in life, remain sterile. In the 
months of December and January, which is the usual time 
for spawning, quantities of adult salmon are seen by cod, 
haddock, and herring fishermen, twelve and fifteen miles 
from the coast, near the surface of the water, playing 
about, as the fishermen term it, probably being then in 
pursuit of food. Even in the river, during the above 
* There is, however, a little uncertainty regarding the relative 
positions of “ Orange-fin” and “ Black-tail.”” Some young fish, 
believed to be Orange-fins, having been put into a pond at Carham, 
and kept there for two or three years, were examined by Mr. Stirling, 
of Edinburgh University, and he reported on them as follows. 
A fish, weighing about 2 lbs., having been examined, Mr. Stirling 
suggested the following account of its life history :— 
“Tt was put into the pond in May, 1874, as an Orange-fin. 
“Tt became a Black-tail in May 1875. 
“Tt became a Bull-trout in November, 1876. 
“Tt spawned about this time. 
“Its progeny were hatched in February 1877. 
“Its progeny became Parr in May 1877. 
“Tts progeny became Orange-fins in April 1878.” 
Mr. Stirling was therefore of opinion that the fish known as an 
“ Orange-fin” in the Tweed, is the “ Black-tail” of that river in a 
younger stage. 
