THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1893. 



51 



the body, small. During the breeding 

 season the point of the lower jaw is 

 bent upwards, somewhat like a hook. 

 The back is blue black or dark gray, 

 while the belly is silvery, and often dot- 

 ted here and there with spots of red 

 and black. At maturity it attains a 

 length of three feet and a weight of 

 from 40 to 50 pounds. The salmon, 

 ^' the king of fresh-water fish," is 

 migratory in its habits, spending the 

 earlier days of youth in fresh water, but 

 eventually making its way to the sea, 

 from which it again returns to its native 

 river when the spawning season arrives. 

 The speed with which this fish swims is 



effort is renewed and generally crowned 

 with success. It is not unusual for the 

 fish to persist until it is killed by the 

 violence of its exertions in accomplish- 

 ing the object. 



The spawning season is in the fall 

 and early winter (the California salmon, 

 however, spawns during the summer). 

 Before entering the fresh water of the 

 river, the fish remain in the brackish 

 water of tide-ways, as they also do when 

 making their descent to the sea. This 

 habit prevents the great and sudden 

 change that would ensue if the passage 

 was made abruptly from salt to fresh 

 water or vice versa. It is also at this 



The Silver Salmon of Alaska. 

 Oncorhynchus kisutch. 



remarkable, and should the depth of 

 the water be favorable for the exploit, 

 it will accomplish the distance of fifty 

 miles in an hour's time. Its strength is 

 no less remarkable, enabling it to main- 

 tain its high velocity in shooting up 

 the most oblique and glancing rapids 

 and if need be, leaping falls ten or 

 twelve feet in height. The greatest 

 perpendicular height to which the sal- 

 mon can attain in leaping is believed 

 to be about fourteen feet. Should the 

 first attempt at leaping a water-fall be a 

 failure, the fish will make the trial again 

 and again, evincing the most obstinate 

 perseverance. Resting between times 

 to recruit its exhausted strength, the 



time that they get rid of parasites that 

 become attached, after a protracted 

 stay, in either salt or fresh water as the 

 case may be. The female is the first 

 to enter the river and locate in a suit- 

 able place for spawning, the male fol- 

 lowing about a month later. With a 

 spirit of true chivalry, the male salmon 

 is wont to engage in desperate battles 

 with other males, for the possession of 

 the female,' the result of the struggle 

 not infrequently being the death of the 

 weaker The spawn is not deposited 

 until the water has receded to a tem- 

 perature of about 10° F. The next 

 step is to prepare a receptacle or nest in 

 which to drop the eggs. The female 



