270 ROD AND RIVER 



That salmon and sea-trout, as a rule, return to 

 their native streams. 



That when they resort to any part of a river 

 or its tributaries, they do so in pairs, male and 

 female. 



That salmon usually spawn in November, but 

 that a low temperature or floods are apt to retard 

 the process ; and that when spawning takes place, 

 the male fish is always in attendance on the female, 

 or close at hand. 



That it takes from a hundred to a hundred and 

 twenty days for the ova to hatch, and that cold 

 weather retards the hatching process. 



That excessive floods or drying-up of the 

 spawning-beds destroy the ova, and that bull- 

 trout and ducks, especially tame ducks, do con- 

 siderable damage to the latter. 



That salmon do not frequently return to the sea 

 without spawning, and that if they do so, it is not 

 from a further distance up the river than about ten 

 miles. 



That smolts and kelts, especially the former, 

 remain in the tideway, on their passage to the sea, 

 for some few days, in order that they may become 

 inured to the salt water. 



That the salmon-fry (parr) lose the bar-marks, 

 get their scales, increase in size to some four or 

 five inches in length, and that their pectoral fins 

 become darker, before they leave the river for the 



