198 ON THE BREEDING OF SALMON. 



bridge at Kelso. Two fish were occupied in the manner 

 described, the spawner evidently sloughing off her ova, 

 and the milter, without assisting her, watching the 

 process. A male of equal size approached the redd, and 

 was immediately given chase to by the other, which 

 continued its attack, until it had driven the intruder 

 some hundred yards up the shallows, towards the mouth 

 of Teviot. It then returned to its post, in rear of the 

 female fish. This, I understand, is frequently observed 

 to occur at the place mentioned, and one has always, in 

 the spawning season, when the water is small and clear, 

 an opportunity of watching fish on the redd, above and 

 below the main arches of the bridge in question. I am 

 told also, on credible authority, that the discoloration of 

 the water, effected by the string of ova proceeding from 

 the vent of the unassisted female, may on those occa- 

 sions be detected without difficulty by a careful observer. 

 The position of the kipper is generally, as I have de- 

 scribed it to be : no coitive process taking place, until 

 the female has left off spawning. 



With regard to the jealous habits and quarrelsome 

 propensities of the milter, I have only to mention what 

 is well-known on Tweedside, that while, during the 

 Winter and early Spring seasons, it very rarely occurs 

 that dead spawners are cast up to view along the banks 

 of the river, it is quite common to fall in with male fish 

 in a lifeless or exhausted condition, exhibiting, on various 

 parts of the body, wounds and gashes, inflicted evidently 

 by the teeth of their own species, during some fierce and 

 sanguinary combat. 



I have come to the conclusion, therefore, first of all, 

 that although the milter and spawner are very fre- 

 quently discovered to be on the redd together as a pair, 

 this pairing takes place only for the occasion ; and that 



