ZOOLOGY. 343 



sides more or less silvery; belly white, or yellowish white; back, top of head, and upper fins 

 spotted with large spots of a cream color. Spots on the sides hright red, as in the S. fontinalis. 



As early as the first of June this beautiful fish is found running up the Nisqually, Dwamish, 

 and other rivers emptying into Puget Sound. They are taken sparingly from those waters 

 until October, when they enter the mouths of the rivers in vast numbers, and are taken by 

 hook and line, nets, traps, &c., until near Christmas. The largest individual of this species 

 that I s^w was about two feet in length, and was taken in the Dwamish river, in June, 1856. The 

 individuals caught late in the autumn average about 14 or 15 inches in length, and seem generally 

 more slender than the summer fish, although they are in equal flavor and condition for the table. 

 In my opinion they exceed botli the salmon and brook trout in delicioiis table qualities, as they 

 also certainly exceed both in heaidij. The flesh, when cooked, is of a delicate salmon hue, that 

 of the autumn fish being a little paler. They are in general more slender in proportion to their 

 length than either the true trout or salmon. I obtained a very handsome specimen of the 

 pussidch which was caught in Green river, Washington Territory, 35 miles from salt water, 

 about the middle of June, 1856. Upon it were two rows of rose-colored spots below tJie lateral 

 line. They were generally about two and a half lines in diameter. Above the line there were, 

 to the dorsal median, several nearly parallel rows of the same sized spots of a yellowish white 

 color. The jaws of this fish were well provided with strong, sharp teeth. The little Indian 

 boys catch great numbers of this species with hook and line. They use salmon roe principally 

 for bait. I think that early in the season an artificial fly would answer well, and very much 

 regret that the hopelessly fractured condition of my onlj' fly-rod prevented ray testing the 

 question. I have heard it said that "salmon trout," answering to the description of this fish, 

 are found in the waters of California. Upon conversing with Dr. W. 0. Ayres, well known as 

 an ichthyologist, and for some years a resident of San Francisco, he informed me that he had 

 not seen the species in that State. Perhaps the fish is only caught in the fresh water streams 

 some distance from San Francisco; or perhaps the species is reallj- not found in California at all. 

 The accounts of non-scientific describers are very unreliable, and on the Pacific coast, especially, 

 there is great confusion among fishermen as to vulgar synonyms, brook trout, salmon trout, and 

 salmon, being terms indiscriminately used. Besides these sources of confusion, there are in the 

 northwest waters, perhaps, two well marked species of red-spotted salmon trout, which are entirely 

 difl'ereut from the species under consideration. One of these was observed by Mr. George 

 Gibbs, esq., (geologist to the western division of the north Pacific railroad survey and explora- 

 tion,) in the Yakima valley. It was about two feet in length, and may have been merely a 

 large individual of the present species. 



In Lake Pend d' Oreille, a sheet of water formed in the second chain of the Rocky mountains 

 by a dilatation of the Clark river, of much the same size, shape, and general character, as 

 Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, (from the lower end of which the Rhone escapes in a similar 

 manner,) I have seen a very handsome species of red-spotted lake trout. The spots along the 

 flanks are of the size of large peas, and are of a beautiful rose color. The length of the adult 

 fish will average 20 inches. Its form is slender, and the dorsal profile but slightly arched. 



SALMO AURORA, Grd. 

 Plate LXVIII. 



"Sp. Ch.— Body fusiform, compressed ; head forming the fourth of the total length, caudal fin excluded. Upper jaw 

 longest. Maxillary gently imdulating ; its posterior extremity extending to a vertical line passing considerably behind the 



