APPENDIX. 193 



From the 1st to the 10th of March. 

 Unspawned fish, (4 on the 10th) 7 



Kelts 9 



Clean 1 



17 



Mr. Robert Buist says that there are foul fish in 

 the Tay in January and February, but that he has 

 never known of unspawned fish in that river in the 

 latter month. 



Salmon never spawn in still water unless when 

 unable to reach the upper parts of a stream, where 

 the water is shallow and runs over a gravelly 

 bottom. On arriving at a proper place, both male 

 and female commence forming in the gravel with 

 their snouts a sort of trench, extending sometimes 

 to eight or ten feet and from a foot to eighteen 

 inches deep ; during which operation they have 

 been observed to emit a peculiar sound. In this 

 hollow the female deposits the ova, generally from 

 fifteen to seventeen thousand, which are impregnated 

 by the male after ejection ; and as they are emitted 

 one by one, the time of spawning occupies several 

 days. The ova are then covered up with sand, small 

 stones, and gravel, the fish in performing this opera- 

 tion mostly using their tails, which are in consequence 

 sometimes observed with part of the skin and the 

 spines rubbed off. Should the male be killed before 

 the spawning is completed, the female seeks another 

 mate ; and she has on such occasions been observed 

 to be attended by a grilse or a large trout. When 



