294 Reminiscences of 



showing the strong impulse of nature in this respect 

 with the Salmo family, which must gain fresh water 

 to renew its species. I have often observed in eastern 

 waters the struggling efforts of trout to get through 

 the shallow reaches of water over sand banks at the 

 mouth of streams, and often observed trout working 

 through when compelled to forward themselves on 

 their sides, and have dug channels through the sands to 

 facilitate their passage. 



The steel-head trouts are very plentiful on the Pacific 

 coast, particularly at the northern rivers, where they 

 ascend plentifully with the salmon at the spawning 

 season. They are the largest trout known, perhaps 

 being disputed in this respect by the cut-throat trout 

 (Salmo Mykess), in Lake Tahoe between the States of 

 California and Nevada, where they attain their largest 

 size. 



The designation of cut-throat is given to this trout 

 from its having a crimson or scarlet coloring on the 

 membrane between the branches of the lower jaw. It 

 is, perhaps, more extensively distributed over a large 

 area than any other, though its markings to a consider- 

 able extent are influenced by its local surroundings. 

 It is plentiful in the north Pacific streams of Kamts- 

 chatka, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, northern Cali- 

 fornia, and in the streams on both sides of the Rocky 

 Mountains, and in the Utah basin, and in Colorado, and 

 more southern idstricts. The steel-heads are not, how- 

 ever, esteemed so highly for food as the other trout, 

 though very gamey. 



The rainbow trout (Iridius), a favorite in the Cali- 

 fornia streams, is a plump silvery -bluish-colored fish 

 with red lateral streaks. Structurally it is claimed to 



