THE SALMON FAMILY. 55 



gravel. They then float down the stream tail fore- 

 most. As already stated, a great majority of them 

 die. In the head-waters of the large streams, un- 

 questionably, all die; in the small streams, and 

 near the sea, an unknown percentage probably sur- 

 vive. The young hatch in about sixty days, and 

 most of them return to the ocean during the high 

 water of the spring. 



The salmon of all kinds in the spring are silvery, 

 spotted or not according to the species, and with 

 the mouth about equally symmetrical in both 

 sexes. As the spawning season approaches, the 

 female loses her silvery color, becomes more slimy, 

 the scales on the back partly sink into the skin, 

 and the flesh changes from salmon red and be- 

 comes variously paler, from the loss of oil; the 

 degree of paleness varying much with individuals 

 and with inhabitants of different rivers. In the 

 Sacramento the flesh of the quinnat, in either spring 

 or fall, is rarely pale. In the Columbia a few with 

 pale flesh are sometimes taken in spring, and a 

 good many in the fall. In Frazer River the fall 

 run of the quinnat is nearly worthless for canning 

 purposes, because so many are " white-meated." 

 In the spring very few are "white-meated ; " but the 

 number increases towards fall, when there is every 

 variation, some having red streaks running through 

 them, others being red toward the head and pale 

 toward the tail. The red and pale ones cannot be 

 distinguished externally, and the color is dependent 

 on neither age nor sex. There is said to be no differ- 

 ence in the taste, but there is no market for canned 

 salmon not of the conventional orange-color. 



