308 SALMOX FISHIXG IX CANADA. 



fourteen inches deep. Concealed in a thicket at the root of some 

 willows on the bank, I have at this place, on more than tiventy 

 occasions, witnessed for hours the interesting niana-uvres of the 

 iish. 



With admiraole instinct these creatures never select a stream 

 that is likely tc. dry up. It is essential, I believe, that the bed 

 or nest of the ova should be at the bottom of riuining water of 

 moderate dejith, — not in too strong a current, ivhich, during 

 floods, would be likely to carry off and destroj' the deposite ; — 

 nor in a stagnant part of the ri^"er, where a mud sediment and 

 the want of water sufhcienll}" aerated might choke the embryo 

 brood. 



When the place is chosen, both fish set to work to scoop out a 

 pro})er IiliUow fur the spawn. On every occasion I observed that 

 the female commenced the operation, as she had in all probability 

 selected the site of the bed. She is easilj- distinguished from the 

 male by her large and matronl)^ size, as he is conspicuous by the 

 curious hooked appendage projecting upwards from the centre of 

 tlie lower ja-w. The female then, in curious analogy with the 

 hen-bird, begins to make her nest, by digging into the gravel 

 i\'ith her belly and tail, sometimes poking a refractory peblile out 

 of the way with her n(jse. The male fish all the time keeps Avatcli 

 iu the inunediate neighbourhood of his wife ; and although nature 

 has denied him the power of serenading her with a song, after 

 the fashion of the cock-bird, our gallant ."^almon does not the less 

 tenderly guard the privacy of his spouse, but s-\\'ims round her 

 in a protecting circle, to pre-\-ent interlopers from disturl.iing her 

 m her interesting employment. When the lady-fish has worked 

 long enough, which may lie from a cpiarter to half an hour, she 

 rests fir a little, and the attenti-\-e husliand takes her place im- 

 mediately and commences digging. — She then circles round and 

 watches over him iu her turn. Indeed, there is much moral in- 

 terest excited liy these proceedings ; and I may venture to add, 



