SUCKLEY MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS SALMO. 127 



extremity of the fish, and by a sudden jerk is inserted so as effectually 

 to secure him." 



1 We also copy an extract from the Journal of the Bost. Soc. Nat, Hist, 

 vol. vi, p. 49, a paper entitled "Observations on some of the habits of 

 I Salmo fontinaUs. By Samuel L. Bigelow, M. D." 



" The following observations on the habits and peculiarities of a spe- 

 cies of Salmo wer«i made in a comparatively short space of time, without 

 reference to science, but merely as a source of pleasure to myself, and 

 ; to gratify a natural curiosity. The pond in which these trout are found 

 , is situated at the base of the northeast ridge of the Monadnock Moun- 

 ; tain. It covers an area, I should think, of seventy-five or one hundred 

 . acres, and is so deep about the center that soundings have not been 

 ; found, though a line has been sunk 200 feet. It is supplied entirely by 

 , springs at the bottom, which is composed of red and white sand and 

 ; rocks, so far as the depth of the water will permit of an examination. 

 \ The water is always very cold, and so clear that the bottom nmy be 

 : seen in a bright day to the depth of 25 or 30 feet ; and although there 

 are neither inlets nor outlets, its height is nearly the same at all seasons. 

 Its depth increases from the shore, where it is only a few inches, in some 

 '. parts gradually, and in others rather abruptly. 



• " The form of the pond is quite irregular and has been fancied by some 

 I to correspond very exactly to the base of the mountain, which is close 

 beside it. From this circumstance, together with its great central 

 depth, has arisen a legend of its having been once filled by this mass, 

 now a mountain, which was heaved out by some convulsion of nature. 

 The southwest shore is more stony and less exposed than almost an;^ 

 other, and here it is that the trout form their beds and come to spawn. 

 Another natural advantage which this point possesses over others is, 

 that here the change from shallow to deep water is quite abrupt, afford- 

 . ing the trout a better chance for escape in case of fright or danger, 



" Their beds, as they are called, are merely small cavities formed by 



: the accidental position of three or four stones sunk to their upper sur- 



1 faces in sand. Their capacity is generally from a pint to a quart, and 



their forms are various; sometimes flat and shallow. They are most 



I numerous within 10 feet of the shore, and in not more than 10 or 12 



inches of water. The trout having selected these little cavities, clean 



them out with care, removing the finer particles of dirt by fanning with 



their tails and the larger with their mouths ; this done, they have a bed 



which they visit for a successive series of years, which will be longer 



or shorter, as they are more or less disturbed. An old fisherman pointed 



: out to me abandoned beds on which he had in former years taken great 



numbers. They were on the south side of the pond, whence the fish had 



gradually followed the shore till the year before last, when they came 



up on the extreme southwest shore, where I found them. They remain 



in the deep water about the center of the pond during the entire year, 



except the spawning season, which commences about the 1st of October. 



