﻿28 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OP 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  the 
  St. 
  John 
  and 
  endinj? 
  with 
  the 
  Housatonic* 
  In 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  

   of 
  these 
  the 
  species 
  has 
  been 
  exteriuiuated 
  by 
  civilized 
  man, 
  and 
  in 
  

   the 
  few 
  iu 
  which 
  it 
  still 
  persists 
  its 
  numbers 
  are 
  far 
  below 
  the 
  estimates 
  

   which 
  the 
  earliest 
  records 
  warrant 
  us 
  in 
  making 
  for 
  those 
  days. 
  

  

  In 
  certain 
  lakes 
  of 
  Maine 
  and 
  northward 
  this 
  fish 
  is 
  perfectly 
  land- 
  

   locked 
  and 
  has 
  somewhat 
  diftereut 
  habits 
  and 
  coloration, 
  but 
  no 
  distinct 
  

   specific 
  characters. 
  Similar 
  landlocked 
  varieties 
  occur 
  in 
  Europe. 
  

  

  LIFE 
  AND 
  HABITS. 
  

  

  Salmon 
  eggs 
  are 
  deposited 
  on 
  coarse 
  gravel 
  on 
  some 
  rapid, 
  generally 
  

   far 
  np 
  toward 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  a 
  river, 
  late 
  in 
  October 
  or 
  early 
  in 
  N^ovem- 
  

   ber, 
  when 
  the 
  water 
  is 
  perhaps 
  about 
  44^ 
  F. 
  and 
  the 
  temperature 
  is 
  

   falling. 
  The 
  egg 
  is 
  impregnated 
  at 
  the 
  moment 
  of 
  its 
  deposit, 
  and 
  the 
  

   independent 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  salmon 
  begins 
  to 
  develop 
  at 
  once. 
  In 
  a 
  few 
  

   weeks 
  the 
  embryo 
  becomes 
  sensitive, 
  but 
  tlie 
  extreme 
  cold 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  

   retards 
  its 
  development 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  that 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  burst 
  the 
  

   shell 
  of 
  the 
  egg 
  until 
  spring. 
  In 
  the 
  rivers 
  of 
  New 
  England 
  it 
  is 
  prob- 
  

   able 
  that 
  nearly 
  all 
  the 
  eggs 
  naturally 
  deposited 
  hatch 
  very 
  late 
  in 
  

   Ai^ril 
  and 
  early 
  in 
  May. 
  At 
  this 
  time 
  the 
  embryo 
  salmon 
  has 
  a 
  slender 
  

   half-transparent 
  trunk, 
  less 
  than 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  length, 
  carrying, 
  susi)ended 
  

   beneatl), 
  an 
  immense 
  ovoid 
  sac 
  — 
  the 
  " 
  yolk-sac." 
  Eor 
  about 
  six 
  weeks 
  

   after 
  hatching 
  it 
  hides 
  in 
  crevices 
  among 
  stones, 
  keeping 
  up 
  an 
  inces- 
  

   sant 
  fanning 
  with 
  its 
  i)ectoral 
  fins. 
  During 
  this 
  period 
  it 
  takes 
  no 
  food, 
  

   but 
  is 
  supported 
  and 
  nourished 
  by 
  the 
  yolk:sac, 
  the 
  substance 
  of 
  which 
  

   is 
  gradually 
  absorbed 
  into 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  body, 
  and 
  not 
  until 
  the 
  sac 
  

   has 
  nearly 
  disappeared 
  does 
  the 
  salmon 
  really 
  look 
  like 
  a 
  fish 
  and 
  begin 
  

   to 
  seize 
  and 
  swallow 
  food. 
  It 
  now 
  puts 
  on 
  a 
  mottled 
  coat, 
  with 
  several 
  

   heavy 
  dark 
  bars 
  across 
  its 
  sides, 
  and 
  bright 
  red 
  spots, 
  larger 
  and 
  fewer 
  

   than 
  those 
  of 
  a 
  trout, 
  lookiug 
  therefore 
  very 
  unlike 
  the 
  adult 
  salmon 
  

   but 
  much 
  like 
  a 
  young 
  trout. 
  In 
  this 
  stage 
  it 
  is 
  termed, 
  in 
  Scotland 
  

   and 
  England, 
  a 
  " 
  parr," 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  formerly 
  thought 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  wholly 
  

   different 
  species 
  from 
  salmon. 
  

  

  The 
  parr 
  stage 
  lasts 
  a 
  year 
  or 
  two 
  in 
  British 
  rivers, 
  and 
  the 
  few 
  

   observations 
  made 
  in 
  America 
  indicate 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  likely 
  two 
  years 
  

   than 
  one 
  iu 
  our 
  rivers. 
  The 
  parr, 
  at 
  first 
  but 
  little 
  over 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  

   length, 
  is 
  provided 
  with 
  good 
  teeth 
  and 
  a 
  good 
  appetite, 
  and 
  beginning 
  

   to 
  feed 
  at 
  a 
  season 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  when 
  the 
  water 
  is 
  almost 
  crowded 
  with 
  

   small 
  insects 
  and 
  other 
  more 
  minute 
  creatures, 
  it 
  grows 
  rapidly, 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  increasing 
  its 
  weiglit 
  thirty 
  or 
  forty 
  times 
  the 
  first 
  summer. 
  In 
  

   two 
  years 
  it 
  reaches 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  6 
  or 
  8 
  inches, 
  and 
  its 
  bright 
  red 
  

   spots 
  and 
  dark 
  bars 
  have 
  given 
  place 
  to 
  a 
  silvery 
  coat 
  like 
  the 
  adult 
  

   salmon. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  termed 
  a 
  " 
  smolt" 
  and 
  is 
  ready 
  to 
  go 
  to 
  sea, 
  which 
  

   it 
  does 
  with 
  little 
  delay, 
  and 
  jiasses 
  out 
  beyond 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  man's 
  

  

  *The 
  Hudson 
  River 
  is 
  by 
  some 
  believed 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  natural 
  salmon 
  river. 
  Its 
  

   discoverer, 
  Hendrick 
  Hudsou, 
  reported 
  having 
  observed 
  them 
  there, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  

   nothing 
  inherently 
  improbable 
  in 
  it, 
  but 
  the 
  evidence 
  is 
  perhaps 
  insufficient. 
  

  

  