SALMON— AUTUMN MIGRATION OF SMOLTS. 91 



accuracy of my statement of this being the case has been challenged, the opinions 

 of various observers are recorded below.* 



* Pennant, Brit. Zool. iii, p. 304, remarking on the samlet said, " near Shrewsbury (where 

 they are oaUed sainsons) they are found in such quantities in the mouth of September, that a skilful 

 angler, in a coracle, will take with a fly from twelve to sixteen dozen in a day." Mr. Young, of 

 Invershin, observed, respecting the migration of smolts being generally from the middle of April 

 to the end of May, continued : " oftentimes their migration takes place earlier, and frequently 

 later in the year. Late migration is caused by late spawning, which is the result of a late ' close ' 

 time, or not allowing salmon to ascend the rivers freely in the early autumn months " {Book of the 

 Salmon, 1850, p. 19). Shaw {Edinburgh New PhilosophicalJoumal, 1836, p. 99) remarked "to 

 enable me to watch the progressive growth of the par, I caught on July 11, 1833, seven pars." 

 Parnell, in his Essay on the Fishes in the District of the Forth, 1836, stated, " the largest specimen 

 {Salmo salmulus) I have met with, measures 9} in. in length. It was taken in the North Bsk, 

 Forfarshire, September, 1835, by James Wilson, Esq." (p. 298). Among specimens of par 

 {S. salmulus) from Parnell's collection is a skin 5i in. long, taken from the Cumberland Bsk in 

 the month of August, it is the young of Salmo salar, while there are likewise some similar skins 

 from the North Esk in Forfarshire, but the date of capture is not recorded. The foregoing, 

 however, show the capture of salmon smolts in the Cumberland Esk in August, and their reported 

 capture during the same mouth in the Forfarshire Esk. Bussel, in his work on The Natural 

 History of the Salmon, 1864, observed, " in the months of May, June, and July, full-sized pars 

 are to be got in the rivers, but in numbers much smaller than in either the preceding or the 

 following months of the year " (p. 44) ; but these he considered did not descend to the sea during 

 the summer season. This autumn smolt is probably the form referred to by Thompson, Natural 

 History of Ireland, 1856, vol. iv, p. 148, who, remarked Mr. Sinolaire, " is of opinion that a 

 small fish, which is taken ia rivers during every month from 'March to November inclusive, 

 and which he calls the par, is a distinct species." Thompson having been shown some of these 

 specimens, considered them to be young salmon. Murie, Proceedings of tlte Zoological Society, 

 1870, stated, on the authority of Buckland, that " there is good evidence of a second migration of 

 smolts in the month of September " (p. 42). 



In the second volume of my British and Irish Fishes, 1882, p. 69, I observed, " Years ago, 

 when I used to fish in the Severn, at or near Shrewsbury, we knew the younger stages of salmon, 

 especially the March, April, and May shoals, formed of the par, as salmon fry, and the autumn 

 smolt as the samlet." I may mention that those were times prior to the capture of these young 

 fish being stopped, when the taking of par was an ordinary amusement for the fly-fisher. We 

 divided the " salmon fry " from the " samlets " (for my especial attention had been directed to 

 this subject of inquiry by the late Professor Bymer Jones, when lecturing on " natural history " at 

 Shrewsbury). The salmon fry were the fishes which constituted the great seasonal migration during 

 the first two quarters of the year, and were of diverse sizes ; but, about September or October, a 

 second appearance of these finger-marked fish occurred, comparatively few in number, but as 

 large as the largest of the earlier migratory " salmon fry." They were rather deeper in form 

 and stronger when hooked. The foregoing was not, so far as my recollection serves, merely a 

 solitary occurrence about Shrewsbury, but took place annually. In Salmon Problems, Mr. 

 WiUis-Buud remarked that in December, 1884, he found a few samlets in an affluent of the Severn 

 descending to the sea ; but " an autumn migration of smolts is a thing hardly ever heard of ; 

 indeed, its existence is denied. Yet, here it was ; and, but for the merest accident, would have 



passed by unrecorded The importance of it to fishery boards is considerable. To 



give an instance. They have power to make bye-laws to determine the times of the year at 

 which gratings shall be placed at the head of channels to prevent smolts being led astray on 

 their seaward migration " (pp. 9 and 10) . . . . "If there is such a thing as an August 

 migration, equal necessity exists for maintaining the gratings in the autumn as well as in the 

 spring." Since then he has observed that " the water bailiffs who declare that there are distinct 

 kinds of samlets, and that the one that migrates in the autumn (they now say they have noticed 

 autumn migrations for some years) is a distinct kind of salmon from the small smolt which 

 migrates in the spring" (January 5th, 1886). 



In Professor Huxley's Beport on the Salmon Fisheries for 1884, when referring to the 

 migration of smolts in the Severn, and the time for retaining gratings at the canal feeder at Aber- 

 tanat, it is observed : " The period from Feb. 14th to May Slst was agreed upon as the 'smolt 

 season,' during which the narrow grating was to be retained." He also referred to Mr. Fryer's 

 report, wherein it was remarked of the period " when the smolts are in the river. At such time, 

 however, there are no leaves falling " (page 12). 



The foregoing extracts would seem to clearly show that neither the Inspector of Fisheries 

 nor his assistant had the slightest idea of there being any autumn migration of smolts in the 

 Severn ; but now attention has been directed to the subject, because the chairman of the Severn 

 Fishery Board had witnessed such an occurrence, and naturally inquired whether such is or is 

 not normal ? 



A correspondent of Land and Water (February 21st, 1885) observed : " During last autumn 

 in the Severn, or rather one of its tributaries, when the first autumn fioods came down, and they 

 were unusually late this year in the Severn district, and the eel-nets and eel-traps were set to 

 intercept the usual migrations of eels seaward, there were caught among the eels in the Teme a 

 number of smolts, not samlets, but fully developed silver-scaled smolts. This, however, is the 

 first instance recorded of the existence of smolts in the Severn or Teme at this late period of the 

 year — the beginning of December." 



