928 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



a nearly vertical position is gained, still lying over the hole, then they fall away from one 

 another, and the male retires to some secluded spot, where he remains five or ten minutes rest 

 ing. This interval the female employs covering her eggs. She will flirt in with her tail all 

 the stones pf proper size to be found near her nest, and if there are not enough to cover it to 

 her liking she will go above, and, picking out a particular stone, work it down backward 

 between the two ventral fins. This labor she continues until the eggs are completely 

 covered. 



After five or ten minutes the male pays her a visit to see how she is getting along. He 

 looks around a little, eats a few of the eggs if he can find any uncovered, and then retires to 

 his lurking place again, where he remains twenty minutes, with only occasional visits to the 

 female before he recovers from the exhaustion which he has undergone. The female does 

 not seem to rest; she continues covering the eggs and does not then leave the place. The 

 reason for this is that she has not yet emitted all her eggs, for trout occupy some time in 

 their spawning, laying their eggs at intervals, as they become ripe. Observers differ as to the 

 length of time occupied in spawning. The time is not usually more than three days, although 

 sometimes extending to six days, the female covering the eggs as she emits them. 



&quot;When it is understood that some of the eggs do not sink into the nest, but are carried off 

 by the current, and that only a part of every hatch escape the jaws of their parents, and of 

 the many trout swimming around the spawning place, one may begin to perceive the advant 

 age of artificial methods. To make the danger of loss greater, after the nest is finished, the 



HATCHING BOXES. 



parents gone, and the eggs nicely hatched, another pair come along intent on similar busi 

 ness. The female sees the place where the first has laid her eggs, and, fancying it a good 

 spot for her own nest, begins to make one there. As soon as the eggs are uncovered, by the 

 preparatory operations, the pair eat up all they can find, and then proceed to lay their own 

 eggs, only perhaps, to be served in the same way by others. When it is considered, also, 

 that all kinds of water-fowl are fond of these eggs and diligently search after them, and that 

 in the spring time the young fry furnish a large proportion of food for the older ones, the 

 wonder seems to be, not that there are so few trout in our streams, but that there are any left. 

 Another cause of the rapid diminution of trout in settled countries, is the tame ducks which 

 are allowed on the stream. They wander at will peacefully up and down the stream, explore 

 every foot of the bottom, turning over the gravel with their long bills, and leaving very few 

 of the eggs to hatch. 



Number of Eggs. The number of spawn which a trout will give has been variously 

 estimated. She commences spawning at two years old if well fed and large. It has been 

 asserted that eggs have been taken from a trout one year old, or rather taken in the winter of 

 the same year it was hatched. This may be so, but it is more interesting in a physiological 

 point of view than for any practical purpose, as there are so few that it is not worth while to 



