THE SALMON. 



253 



dance of fat during their sojourn in the sea, they live upon 

 that (like the bears in winter) during the whole time. 

 Why do they, then, rush at and take a bundle of worms, 

 or a gaudy fly, or a phantom minnow, or a young dace, or 

 a boiled shrimp or prawn ? Why do they take the boiled 

 prawn, which they have never seen, and refuse the same in 

 its natural colour ? And why should they not live upon 

 young fish, eels, &c., whilst in fresh water ? They do not 

 do so, say some, because nothing is ever found in their 

 stomachs when taken. But it is a well-known fact that 

 fish will vomit up the contents of their stomachs when in a 



A FORTY-POUNDER "SHOWING HIMSELF." 



fright ; we have seen a sea-trout bring up half a dozen 

 herring- fry. But not only that ; many instances are re- 

 corded of food being found in the stomach of the salmon. 



Parnell (" Fishes of the Firth of Forth ") says : " I have 

 repeatedly found the remains of worms and aquatic insects 

 in the intestines of those salmon that were taken in rivers 

 and lakes, but in those fish which were far advanced in 

 roe both stomach and intestines were almost invariably 

 empty." 



Mr. Gosden, Land and Water, March 1886, states that 

 he had examined the stomachs of 490 salmon, from the 



