THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 153 



familiar with the life history of the salmon ; but it is 

 written mainly for those who may be anxious to ac- 

 quire some general information as to the fish they are 

 so anxious to capture, and with the hope that such 

 knowledge as I have acquired during many years of 

 fishing experience may be of use to them when they 

 find themselves face to face with some unexpected 

 difficulty or problem connected with salmon life. 

 The basis of those theories which offer some new solu- 

 tion for well-known phenomena associated with Sal- 

 monidse are suggested by the most probable and 

 natural influence of their own instinct as affecting 

 their actions. 



THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 



If the reader should, in the early spring, be wander- 

 ing beside the upper and more shallow waters of any 

 salmon river, his attention may possibly be attracted 

 to certain mounds of gravel rising from the bottom of 

 the stream. He will observe that these mounds are 

 kept clean and free from mud by the sweep of the 

 current in which they are situated, and to which they 

 offer some resistance. 



These gravel mounds are called salmon redds, and 

 they are formed by the male and female salmon to 

 cover and protect the ova deposited by the female 

 fish. 



During the autumnal and winter spawning season 

 the female fish, after first scooping out a hollow trough 



