THE SALMON FAMILY. 243 



Salmon and Grilse find their way back to spawn to the 



rivers in which they were bred — sometimes to the identical 



spots, — spawn about November or December, — and go 



down again to the sea as " spent fish/' or " Kelts/' in 



February or March, — ^returning, in at least many cases, 



during the following four or five months as " clean fish," 



and with an increase in weight of from 7 to 10 lbs. 



INote. — Shortly before spawning, and whilst returning to the sea as 

 Kelts, or spent fish, Salmon are unfit for food, and their capture 

 is then illegal. "Foul fish" before spawning are, if males, termed 

 Eed fish, from the orange-coloured stripes with which their 

 cheeks are marked and the golden-orange tint of the hody ; the 

 females are darker in colom-, and are called Black fish. After 

 spawning the males are called Kippers, and the females Shedders 

 or Baggits.] 



This, in a condensed form, is the present state of our 

 positive knowledge as regards the leading facts in the 

 history of the Salmon. They will be referred to more fully 

 in the course of the following pages. 



Distinctive maeks or Salmon and Trout. 



The first points upon which the Angler will look for in- 

 formation are the number and names of the several British 

 species of the genus Salnio (Salmon and Trout properly so 

 called), and the distinctions by which each may be most 

 easily recognized. 



These I shall divide into three groups * : — 



* This grouping commends itself not only by its simplicity and 

 convenience of classification, but also by such broadly marked distinc- 



M 2 



