THE SALMON. 283 



along the sides, bring the lateral bars and the bright ver- 

 milion-coloured spots more distinctly into view ; the mouth 

 small ; the maxillary reaching back to beneath the middle 

 of the pupil; teeth in the jaws small and slender; those on 

 the vomer about twelve in number, extending the whole 

 way. (See Plate XXX.) The spawn deposited in the 

 months of November and December produces fry sooner or 

 later according to circumstances, as before mentioned, and 

 in May following they will be found of various sizes, their 

 growth depending principally on the quantity and qua- 

 lity of food they receive. The spawn shed in February, 

 March, and April, does not appear to produce fry of suffi- 

 cient size to migrate the following May, but they remain 

 in the river all the summer, autumn, and winter, and 

 depart for the sea in about the first week of the May 

 following, with a size of from six to eight and a half inches 

 in length. (See Plate XXXII.) The bright silvery ap- 

 pearance which they assume in this month is caused by the 

 casting off their old dusky scales, and by having them re- 

 placed with a new clear set, which change is very apparent 

 in the second or third week of April, when specimens may 

 be obtained of every intermediate stage ; the same change 

 takes place in the fry of all the migratory trout. This fact, 

 which is well known to many practical fishermen, seems to 

 have escaped the notice of naturalists generally. After the 

 fry or smolts reach the sea, we lose sight of them for two 

 months or ten weeks, and can only infer their growth from 

 the fact that, after the lapse of that period, we find them 

 again returning to the rivers with a weight of from two and 

 a half to four pounds. They are then known under the 

 name of the grilse or salmon-peal. The body is now long, 

 narrow, and elegantly shaped ; the head small ; the nose 

 sharp ; the gill-covers rounded ; the teeth sharp and 

 slender in both jaws, four teeth usually on the tongue 





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