2550 The Zoologist — April, 1871. 



i. e. the fish al\va3s enters the net on the eastern side, while, at the 

 same time, codfish enter indiscriminately on either side. The 

 salmon spawns in Newfoundland in July and August. The harbour 

 seal iPhoca viiulina) is a great pest to the salmon-fishers by 

 robbing their nets. 



American Smelt {Osinerus viridescens). As soon as the ice dis- 

 appears in the spring these little fish ascend the smaller streams in 

 " countless thousands," and become an easy prey of bears, gulls, 

 trout, &c. The smelt possesses a strong smell, resembling that of 

 cucumbers, and probably this peculiar odour may be obnoxious to 

 some of its would-be enemies, for I had a specimen of the American 

 roughlegged buzzard, Archibuteo Sancli-Johannis (Gmelin), which 

 I fed chiefly on trout {S.fontbialis), and of which it seemed par- 

 ticularly fond, but it would not eat smelts, either dead or alive, 

 even when almost starved to do so. 



Capelin [Mallolus villosus). This, although the suiallest, is 

 certainly the most abundant of the Salmonidac ; but, unlike the 

 majority of that valuable and interesting family, the capelin never 

 enters the fresh-water streams. Mr. Perley, in his ' Reports of the 

 Sea and River Fisheries,' says, "The manner in which the capelin 

 deposits its spawn is one of the most curious circumstances 

 attending its natural history. The male fishes are somewhat 

 larger than the females, and are provided with a sort of ridge 

 ))rojocliug on each side of their back-bones, similar to the eaves of 

 a house, in whicl) the female capelin is deficient. The latter, on 

 approaching the beach to deposit its spawn, is attended by two 

 male fishes, who huddle the female between them, until the whole 

 body is concealed under the projecting ridges, and her head only 

 is visible. In this position all three run together with great 

 swiftness upon the sands, when the males, by some inherent im- 

 perceptible power, compress the body of the female between their 

 own, so as to expel the spawn from an orifice near the tail. 

 Having thus accomplished its delivery, the three capelins separate, 

 and paddling with their whole force through the shallow water of 

 the beach, generally succeed in regaining once more the bosom of 

 the deep, although many fail to do so, and are cast upon the shore, 

 especially if the surf be at all heavy." 



The following interesting account of the arrival of the capelin 

 schuU in Conception Bay is taken from the Rev. Mr. Anspach's 

 work on 'Newfoundland': — "It is impossible to conceive, much 



