THE SALMON FAMILY. 239 



X," whicli are the shape of those found also on the Salmon. 

 Sir Humphrey Davy and Yarrell make no mention of red 

 spots on the Sea Trout of Scotland, and Irish and Scotch 

 anglers, in whose company I have taken the Canadian fish, 

 say, positively, that the Sea Trout they caught in the " old 

 country" is entirely a different fish, and has no red spots. 



Mr. Perley says of the habits of the Canadian, or Sea Trout, 

 as he calls them : " They proceed up the rivers as far as the 

 head of tide in each, but never ascend into purely fresh 

 water,"* Here he was no less at fault than in confounding it 

 with the European fish, for it is an established fact, that all 

 the Salmon Family seek water which is highly aerated for the 

 purpose of spawning, and of necessity "ascend into purely 

 fresh water," and that fish of this species will go to the very 

 sources of a river for that purpose, if not prevented by 

 impassable falls or the smallness of the upper waters ; fre- 

 quently occupying the same feeding and spawning grounds 

 with Brook Trout, or, as the Canadians call them, "Eiver 

 Trout." This intimate association is one reason why they 

 are so often confounded with the latter by careless observers ; 

 for a residence in fresh water gives them much the appearance 

 of light-colored Brook Trout, and many persons can only 

 distinguish them by laying an individual of each species 

 side by side. 



It was thus by imperfect observation, and too readily credit- 

 ing stories of persons who were ignorant of the habits of this 



* Yarrell, in his work on British fishes, says: "Doctor McCulloch 

 states, that the Salmon Trout, or Sea Trout as it is called in Scotland, is 

 now a permanent resident in a fresh-water lake on the island of Lismore, 

 one of the Hebrides, and without the power of leaving or reaching the 

 sea. There it has be^n known for a long course of years perfectly recon 

 ciled to its prison, and propagating without any apparent diflSculty." — 

 Journal of the Royal Institute, No. xxxiv., page 212." 



