CHAPTER V 



The instincts of the salmon The life of the salmon Redds The 

 deposition of the ova The dangers to the ova The appearance 

 and life of the ova The alevin and its birth The parr Its 

 appearance and life The smolt Its descent to the sea. 



THE INSTINCTS OF THE SALMON : THE GOOD FAIRY 

 OF THE SALMON'S LIFE 



FROM the moment it leaves the friendly shelter of the 

 redd, amid the pebbles of which it has hatched, has 

 absorbed the yolk-sac attached to its body, and passed 

 from the alevin to the parr stage, the life of the salmon 

 is full of interest to the naturalist, peril to itself, and 

 danger to the water insect and smaller life with which 

 its parental stream abounds. 



No watchful care guards its early days or assists its 

 first attempts to obtain food or the shelter so necessary 

 to its tender and defenceless condition. As it emerges 

 into the rush of the stream from the comparative 

 safety of the redd, a tiny inch of delicate but perfect 

 fish, it is swept into a world teeming with watchful 

 and ever-voracious enemies. It is by no means 

 helpless, and instinct teaches it to dart at once for 

 the protecting shelter of the nearest root or pebble. 

 In every after moment of its eventful life, in every 



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