1 909.] The Life History of the Pacific Salmon. 25 



much less value, since, although taken in large numbers, they are. for rea- 

 sons to be explained later, much less suitable for canning purposes than 

 either the Spring or Sockeye salmon. They are the Silver salmon or 

 Coho {O. kisutch), the Humpback {O. gorhuscha), so named from the large 

 hump which the males develop just back of the head during the breeding 

 Season, and the Dog salmon {0. keta), the least valuable of all as a food 

 fish. 



To complete the list of American Salmonids there still remain for 

 brief mention the lake and brook trout, which are really not trout in the 

 strict application of that term, but are more properly spoken of as Charr, 

 being comparable to the European forms known by that name. The lake 

 or salmon trout have been assigned to the genus Cristivomer, the species 

 to which all our varieties may probably be assigned being C. namaycush ; 

 while the brook trout belong to the genus Salvelinus, our common species 

 being 5. fontinalis. A number of other species of Salvelinus have been 

 described by various authors as inhabiting the streams of this Continent, 

 but the determination of their systematic position is a very difficult 

 question and they have been regarded by Jordan and Everman as, in 

 certain cases, varieties of S. malma, the Dolly Vardon trout of the streams 

 of the Cascade Mountains, or, in other cases, as sub-species either of S. 

 alpiniis, the Saibling or European Charr or of 5. oquassa, the Blue-back 

 trout of the Rangeley Lakes. 



It is especially the members of the genus Oncorhynchus that I wish 

 to consider at present and more especially 0. nerka, the Sockeye salmon, 

 and in giving an account of the life-history of this fish it will be conveni- 

 ent to start with the adult form. The Sockeye is an anadromous fish, 

 spending a considerable portion of its life in the sea and ascending the 

 rivers for the purpose of spawning. This habit is by no means peculiar 

 to the Sockeye, but is common to all the Pacific Salmon and to all the typ- 

 ical members of the genus Salmo. It is also found in fishes of other fam- 

 ilies, as for instance, in that of the Herrings or Clupeidae, of which the 

 Shad and the Gaspereau are typically anadromous in their habits, and is 

 perhaps an exaggeration of the migratory habits possessed by many fish 

 and notably exemplified by the Sea Herring. 



In the case of the Pacific Salmon, however, some of the peculiarities 

 of the life history of the other Salmonidae are intensified and some modified 

 in a very material manner, In the spring of the year and early summer 

 the Spring and Sockeye salmon begin to make their appearance in con- 

 siderable numbers on the coast as plump, well-fed fish, with bright red, 

 solid flesh ; thev feed voraciouslv so long as thev remain in salt water 



