62 CHECK LIST OF THE 



of the timber along the banks of the rivers and the consequent pollution 

 of the water having fouled the spawning beds to such an extent that the 

 fish can no longer resort to them. An occasional specimen is taken in 

 Lake Ontario by the fisherman, but these visitors are probably merely 

 wanderers from the hatcheries below. The range of the Salmon in Canada 

 extends from Quebec eastward through the Maritime Provinces, thence 

 northward along the Atlantic coast to Hudson Strait, and for about one 

 hundred miles down the east coast of Hudson Bay. 



The usual weight of the Atlantic Salmon ranges up to about forty 

 pounds, but specimens of sixty or more have been taken. The greater 

 part of its growth takes place in the ocean, in which the fish spends about 

 half its life. In the spring or early summer the adults enter rivers, work- 

 ing their way up to shallow water, on a sandy or gravelly bottom. On 

 this the eggs are deposited in late autumn, the spawning season beginning 

 about the middle of October, and it may continue until December. The 

 eggs are large, about a quarter of an inch in diameter, and very numerous, 

 an eight-pound female yielding from five to six thousand eggs and heavier 

 fish a proportionately greater number. The hatching period ranges from 

 one hundred and forty to two hundred days, depending upon the tempera- 

 ture. When newly hatched the fry are about three-fourths of an 

 inch long. At two or three months old and about two inches long, 

 they begin to show the vermillion spots and dark cross bands and are 

 then called "parr"; this name and colouration they retain while they 

 remain in fresh water. In the second or third spring they assume a uni- 

 form bright silvery colour and descend to the sea, at this stage being 

 known as "smolt." After remaining in salt water for a period varying 

 from a few months to about two years, the fi.sh may return to their native 

 river, either as a "grilse" or "salmon" weighing from two to six pounds. 

 Towards winter they again return to the sea, and from this time forward 

 the migration from the sea to river head waters is performed annually. 



It is generally assumed that salmon take no food while in fresh water, 

 yet they certainly rise readily enough to the artificial lure of the angler, 

 more particularly when fresh run from the sea ; therefore it seems probable 

 that in the early part of the season the fish will feed, but that as spawning 

 time approaches they, like some other species, cease to have any desire 

 for food and devote themselves to the duties of reproduction entirely, for 

 while on the spawning ground and after the ova are deposited the salmon 

 grow lank and thin, losing all their beauty. In this condition they are 

 "kelts" and valueless as food. 



Subgenus TRUTTA. 



(71) Steelhead Salmon. 



(Salmo gairdneri.) 



Body elongate, little compressed, much like S. salar in form ; caudal 

 peduncle short; head rather short, maxilla reaching far behind the eye. 



