SALMX) SALAR. 273 



had been mauled by otters. In striking 1 an enemy or rival, the jaws are 

 always clenched like a man's fists. 



Pennant gave, on the authority of Mr. Potts, of Berwick, a somewhat 

 different account of Salmon spawning in the Tweed. At the latter end of the 

 year, but chiefly in the month of November, the Salmon ascend the rivers to 

 spawn, as far as they can travel, often for hundreds of miles, making their way 

 against the most rapid currents, and rising over waterfalls with amazing 

 agility ; but when the spawn is developed they search for a suitable place for 

 spawning, and the male and female unite in excavating a receptacle, about 

 eighteen inches deep, in the sand or gravel. After the fishes have spawned, 

 it is said that they cover the fertilised eggs carefully with their tails, for after 

 spawning they are observed to have no skin on that part. Shaw states 

 that the female digs the gravel with her tail, and covers the eggs, as asserted 

 by Keiller, without help from the male. 



Yarrell quotes Ellis on the " Natural History of the Salmon " as stating 

 that a pair of fishes form a furrow by working up the gravel with their noses 

 against stream. The furrow made, the male and female throw themselves 

 together on their sides, and rubbing against each other, shed their spawn into 

 the furrow, during a period of eight to twelve days. 



Mr. Charles St. John, in his "Tour in Sutherlandshire," says that the 

 process of preparing the spawning-beds is curious. The two fishes come up 

 together to a convenient place, shallow and gravelly. Here they commence 

 digging a trench across the stream, sometimes making it several inches deep. 

 In this the female deposits her eggs, and, having left the bed, her place is 

 taken by the male. When the male has performed his share of the work, they 

 both make a fresh trench immediately above the former, thus covering up 

 the spawn in the first trench with the gravel taken out of the second. The 

 same process is repeated till the whole of their spawn is deposited. 



From these different accounts we must infer either that the method of 

 spawning varies in different localities with the nature of the rocks in the 

 stream, or else that the difficulties attendant on observation have not allowed 

 the facts to be recorded in so uniform a way as to ensure perfect confidence. 

 That considerable nests are built up is certain, and we may accept Mr. 

 Shaw's and Mr. Keiller's account of the work being chiefly performed 

 by the tail of the female fish, and yet desire fuller records of the spawning 

 process. 



The number of eggs commonly produced is estimated at from eight 



to nine hundred for every pound weight of the fish, though the eggs are 



sometimes much more numerous. Buckland states that the total weight of 



the eggs varies from one-fifth to one-quarter of the weight of the fish. Stoddart 



18 



