THE PARR. 3<>3 



remain in the rivers where they were spawned during the 

 whole of the spring, summer, and autumn, and do not ac- 

 quire their full size till the autumn, about which time the 

 old ones return from the sea. Hence it is evident that, al- 

 though there are samlets of various sizes in the spring and 

 fore part of the summer, there will be no very large ones 

 till the autumn, when the young ones have nearly acquired 

 their full size, and the old ones have returned to associate 

 with their offspring. If the weather be mild and open in 

 January and February, samlets are taken when retiring to 

 the sea with empty bellies, and in a weak emaciated condi- 

 tion. In short, we see samlets of various sizes ; we see them 

 with milt and roe in various stages, and we see them per- 

 fectly empty ; all which circumstances clearly prove that 

 they are a distinct species.''''* 



It has often been asserted, in corroboration of the parr 

 being the young of the salmon, that numbers are to be ta- 

 ken below the falls of the Clyde, but none above it. Last 

 summer I had an opportunity of examining several dozen 

 of these fishes, which were taken below the falls, in the 

 month of July, and not a parr (S. salmulus) was among 

 them ; all proved to be the young of the migratory trout, 

 with the exception of three which were the young of the 

 salmon. 



Practical fishermen, from not being acquainted with the 

 characters by which the parr is distinguished from its con- 

 geners, have frequently confounded it with the young of 

 the salmon, the bull-trout, the salmon-trout, and the com- 

 mon fresh-water trout; all of which, during the autumn 

 months, very much resemble each other in their external 

 markings. 



There is still great doubts as to the parr being a migra- 



* Yarrell'a British Fishes. 



