LIZ SOME FISHES OF THE DISTRICT. 
It would be quite impossible in a short paper to enter upon 
a history of so many fishes, and I am therefore obliged to 
confine my remarks toa short life-history of the Salmon, and 
a few facts about the pike, the eel, and one or two others. 
It is a curious thing that, although no fish has had more 
attention paid to its study, or had more books and articles 
written about it than the salmon, there are great gaps re- 
maining to be fiiled up in its life-history. Nobody knows 
where it goes to in the sea, and very little indeed is known 
about what it feeds on; and although it must be a voracious 
feeder in salt water, it seems probable that it eats little or 
nothing in fresh water to which it pays an annual visit for 
the purpose of laying its eggs. To do this it always goes up 
stream until it arrives at a shallow part, with a gravelly 
bottom, and clear sparkling water running rapidly over it. 
Here the female fish proceeds to make a considerable trench 
in the gravel by lying on her side and working strongly with 
her tail. During this time, the male fish, who is in close 
attendance, immediately gives fight to any other fish that 
happens to come near, and as during the breeding season 
it develops a very strong hook on its lower jaw, terrible 
wounds, sufficient in some cases to cause death, are often 
inflicted. As soon as the eggs are laid in the trench and 
fertilized by the male fish, they both set to work to cover 
them thickly over with gravel, forming a large heap at the 
bottom of the river, known as a redd. A favourite spawn- 
ing ground in this locality is the shallow just above the 
bridge at Tutbury, and here, during the season, salmon may 
often be seen depositing their eggs. The time taken for the 
eggs to hatch depends on the temperature of the water, but, 
roughly speaking, it is from seven to twelve weeks. When 
first hatched, the baby fish is called an ‘‘alevin,”’ and has a 
large yolk sac attached to its throat, which provides it with 
nourishment for about six weeks, at the end of which time 
it is absorbed, and the little fish is then known as a “par.” 
