138 THE SALMON. 



and December. They are hatched in about eighty 

 days, according to the temperature of the season. 

 Salmon occasionally spawn in the sea, but the eggs 

 are never hatched there ; not unfrequently in lakes, 

 but, except in those which fall and rise frequently 

 and rapidly, the eggs perish. The fry in its early 

 stage is barred, and improperly called a parr ; the 

 true parr " Salmo samulus " of Linnaeus, Yarrell, 

 and many other authors differs materially from 

 the "salmon parr/' but they are sufficiently like 

 for confusion ; and much confusion and much 

 bitter discussion have ensued from the two fish 

 being called by the same name. In the spring 

 of the following year the young fish assume a 

 silvery scale, and with the first May floods visit the 

 sea as smolts. Some remain for a year or upwards 

 in the salt water, but a large proportion return to 

 the fresh water in the same autumn, invariably 

 seeking the streams from which they went forth. 

 They are then called " grilse," or "peel," and run 

 from two to five and six pounds in weight. The 

 male salmon is called a kipper, the female a baggit, 

 after spawning both are called kelts. In this state 

 they are poor and out of condition, and terribly 

 voracious. They may be taken in any numbers by 

 any kind of bait, but are always bad food, and until 

 " weel mendit " show little sport. In Tweed, how- 



