232 "PERFECT-MOUTHED" FISHES 



impetuosity and perseverance. They will bound over obstacles 

 8 or 10 feet high with surprising ease, and will attempt to leap 

 falls of 12 or 14 feet, often with success. If the height is too great 

 to be surmounted, the fish will leap again and again until they 

 become utterly exhausted and are swept away by the strong 

 current. Before the act of spawning the fish lose their brilliant 

 colouring, and become dark and shabby in appearance; the 

 female is much distorted in shape, and the jaws of the male become 

 thickened and prolonged into a sort of hooked beak, which he 

 uses in fighting with his rivals. After spawning the fish are much 

 exhausted, and many of them die. The eggs are deposited on the 

 gravel bottom of streams and rivers, and carefully covered over 

 by the parent fish. They hatch in three or four months' time, and 

 the young fry are termed " samlets." When a year old they are 

 about 8 inches long, and they then set out for the sea. At this 

 stage of their life they are called " smolts," and it is said that in 

 the generality of cases the fish return in the following year to the 

 place of their birth to spawn. 



In Scotland spawning takes place in November and December ; 

 in North Germany and the south of Sweden, from October to 

 early in November ; in Denmark the season is generally in February 

 or the beginning of March. 



Amongst other Salmonidce are the bright and active Brook Trout 

 (S. jario), beloved of anglers ; the Sea or Salmon Trout (5. trutta] ; 

 the Rainbow Trout (5. irideus), one of the most brilliant members 

 of the family ; the Chars, varieties of which are found in the 

 Swiss lakes, the Alpine lakes of Germany and Austria, and the 

 lakes of Great Britain and Ireland ; the Smelts, and the hand- 

 some Grayling, distinguished by its upright, many-rayed dorsal fin, 

 and by having a strong scent resembling wild thyme, from which 

 it has gained its specific name Thymallus vulgaris, or vexillijer. 



The remarkable changes of colour and form which many of 

 this family undergo in their migration from fresh to salt water, 

 or in consequence of being artificially removed from their native 

 habitat and transplanted in foreign waters, has rendered their 

 classification a difficult matter, and many trout that were formerly 

 considered to be different species are now looked upon as mere 

 varieties. 



While the salmon habitually live in the sea and ascend the 



