SECRETS OF THE SALMON 



tail of the female. After spawning, most of the 

 spent fish find their way to the sea in a greatly 

 emaciated condition. Some fish remain in the 

 larger pools of some rivers until spring, and are 

 known as kelts, or black salmon; these go to the 

 sea the following May or June. 



The eggs hatch in ninety to one hundred and 

 twenty days, and the small parr, or young salmon, 

 lie among the stones with the egg-sack being slowly 

 absorbed into the body for about a month before 

 they begin to feed on insect life. I believe the 

 habits formed by the parr have a profoimd influ- 

 ence on its behavior on its return to fresh water 

 as an adult fish. Any one watching the little parr, 

 along the shores of the river and in the little back 

 waters and shallow pockets, will be struck with 

 the way they take small insects. This summer I 

 sat on the beach and watched some of them care- 

 fully. They were about one and one-quarter to 

 one and one-half inches long, and were in about 

 four inches of water. Most of the time they rested 

 close to the bottom just moving their fins. Every 

 little while they darted out a few inches and seized 

 some small insect in the water which I could not 

 see at all. The rush was swift, just like that of 

 an adult salmon for a fly. They then returned 



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