FISHES AND FISHING IN SUNAPEE LAKE. 77 



definite order, sometimes downstream, sometimes up, and sometimes 

 crosswise, and often some heading in one direction and some in another. 

 In another pool above this a school occupied an eddy, swimming about 

 irregularly and slowly to some extent, and generally rather stationary 

 or drifting irregularly, but with theu' heads generally toward the slow 

 return current at almost right angles to the bank. 



In another pool a school started by the writer's step on the bank 

 darted doAvnstream as far as a shoal ripple, then slowly returned with 

 heads all directed upstream, some smelts above others, but all in the 

 same direction. The smelts when undisturbed did not all occupy the 

 same level in the water; some were near bottom and some farther up 

 in the water, even at times near the surface, but they were all the 

 time rising and settling again, swimming back and forth individually 

 and to some extent collectively but irregularly in the latter case. 

 There was no evidence that they were at this time spawning. In the 

 first pool mentioned a few eggs were seen attached to dead leaves, 

 moss, and sticks, but they were white and may have been extruded 

 when the fish were disturbed the })revious night by dipping. Further 

 observations show that the smelts very slowly moved about in the 

 eddy in a comparatively large "circle" or rather ellipse, but in a very 

 irregular manner. 



Two smelts, one large and the other small, were seen to come rather 

 quickly to the surface together, breaking water with their backs. 

 Probably this was not significant, as no more were seen to do it, or 

 anything like it, during a long watch. No evidence of pairing was 

 observed. 



Later in another place a smaU school of smelts was seen lying at the 

 foot of a pool in which was considerable current. They were compara- 

 tively motionless, just above a shallow ripple, heads aU upstream, 

 merely drifting from side to side, when with one or two quick flirts of 

 the tail they kept themselves from going backward. They scarcely 

 moved upstream at aU at any time, and when there was such a move- 

 ment it was only on the part of one or two of them, not the whole 

 school. 



At 9 p. m. the smelts had mostly gone out of the deep holes and 

 were scattered along the brook, generally on the ripples, but on the 

 morning of April 17 the schools w^ere all in the deep holes where 

 they were seen during the day before. 



On the night of April 18 the writer observed some smelts in the 

 brook by the hatchery that were e\ddently spawning, making no 

 attempt to go farther up the brook. There were, however, others 

 above and some running up by them. Those watched were in shallow 

 water on sand, fine gi-avel, and pebbles and headed upstream where 

 the current ran quickest, but nearer shore they would lie on the 

 bottom with then heads in no particular direction. Sometimes 



