190 SALMONID.E. 



The habits of the Otsego Lavaret are but little known. It is 

 gregarious^ however, and rushes in vast shoals, early in spring, 

 to all the shallow waters and shores of the lake, for a few days, 

 during which he is taken in vast numbers ; after that time he 

 retires to the coldest depths of the lakes, and is seen no more 

 until autumn, when he again makes his appearance for the 

 purpose, it is supposed, of spawning, although the period at 

 which the ova are deposited does not appear to be clearly ascer- 

 tained, nor whether the spawning-beds are in the shoal waters 

 of the lake, or at the mouth of its feeders. 



It is lamentable to think, though but too true, that through 

 the wanton improvidence of the early settlers, who dealt with 

 this delicious fish much as the New Brunswickers do with the 

 Capelin, literally, I believe, feeding their hogs with them, they 

 have already visibly declined in magnitude, as well as decreased 

 in number. 



They were formerly taken, weighing up to four pounds ; but 

 now, the half of that weight is regarded as an unusually fine 

 fish. The specimen which I have described above weighed 

 two pounds and three ounces, and was an uncommonly well-fed 

 and delicious fish. 



With regard to their food, I can say nothing definitely; 

 the stomachs of those which I examined contained nothing 

 but a blackish earthy substance, which resembled decayed 

 vegetable matter, and some small fragments of worms, or larvse 

 of insects. 



I observed no thickening of the stomach, nor anything 

 which seemed to indicate their feeding on any shell-fish or 

 molluscse. 



