414 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA. 



Diego, grows to be about sixteen inches long, with flying fins 

 nine inches long. These start out back of the gills, and when 

 folded down against the body, reach nearly to the tail. It can 

 fly from 200 to 400 yards, does not reach a height of more 

 than 25 feet, nor stay out of water more than a minute at a 

 time. It is seldom caught, save when it flies on a vessel. The 

 meat is palatable. 



342. Fresh-water Fishes. Among the fresh-water fishes 

 the most important is the brook-trout, (Salar irided) which 

 is found in all the mountain streams of the State, and 

 offers fine sport for fly-fishing. It not unfrequently grows to 

 weigh two pounds, and if report is to be believed, sometimes 

 reaches ten and twelve pounds. In appearance and flavor it 

 is similar to the trout of other countries. 



A fish called the salmon-trout, (Ptychocheilus grandis) but 

 not related to the salmon, the trout, or the salmon-trout, found 

 in all the large rivers and lakes of California, weighing 30 

 pounds at its largest size, is caught with the hook or net in 

 winter. The meat is insipid. It lives on shell-fish, which it 

 crushes in its throat, where its teeth are. 



A chub, (Tygoirua crassicauda) and two suckers, (Catosto- 

 mus labiatus and Oatostomus occidentalis) never weighing 

 more than three pounds, are also found in our rivers. They 

 are not valuable. 



343. Reptiles. The snakes of California are not large, 

 numerous, or remarkable. Only one of them, the rattle- 

 snake, is poisonous. 



The scorpion is found in the warmer portions of the State, 

 but is not abundant. 



Tarantulas are common in Calaveras, Mariposa, Fresno, and 

 Tulare Counties. They belong to the same genus with the 

 spiders, but the body grows to be three inches long and an 

 inch wide, and the entire length from end to end of out- 

 stretched legs is five inches. The body and legs are covered 

 with silky, brown hair. The tarantula eats little insects of van- 



