FISHES. 



583 



female pair off, as it were ; seeming to choose, by a common accord, 

 a retired place in which to spawn. Here both male and female 

 employ themselves in hollowing out a nest in the sand some eight or 

 nine inches deep, wherein the female deposits her eggs, which the 

 male fertilises by shedding a milky fluid over them, sheltering the eggs 

 afterwards by a covering of sand. 



The salmon only ascends the 

 rivers to spawn. They eagerly re- 

 turn afterwards to salt water. 

 When enjoying themselves in the 

 water they swim slowly, floating 

 near the surface ; but in pursuit of 

 any object, or if threatened with 

 danger, they dart out of the water 

 with extraordinary promptitude. 

 The tail is, in fact, a true oar 

 moved by powerful muscles. A 

 low waterfall is to the salmon no 

 serious obstacle when it is impelled 

 to ascend to its breeding-place ; 

 curving its vertebral column, it 

 forms itself into a sort of elastic 

 spring; the arc of which being 

 suddenly unbent, strikes the water 

 with great force with the tail, and 

 in the rebound it leaps to the 

 height of several yards, clearing 

 waterfalls of considerable height. 

 If it falls without accomplishing 

 its object, it repeats the manoeuvre 

 until it is at last successful. It is 



Fig. 381. Salmon Leap at Kilmorack. 



especially when the leader of the band makes a successful leap that 

 the others, acquiring new spirit from its example, throw themselves 

 upwards until their emulation is rewarded by success. 



Some of the British waterfalls are celebrated for their salmon 

 leaps. Wales, Scotland, and Ireland have each their celebrated leaps ; 

 in Pembrokeshire, Argyleshire, and at Ballyshannon in county 

 Donegal, and at Leixlip near Dublin. This latter cataract is about 

 twenty feet high, and the country people make a holiday in order to 

 see the salmon clear its height. These acrobat fishes frequently fall 

 before they finally succeed, and it is not unusual for the people to 

 place osier baskets to trap them in their fall. At the cataract of 



