THE HABITS OF THE SALMON. 15 



so-called summer salmon is often fatally reduced ; 

 but in spite of this, large numbers of fish are caught 

 in the estuaries year after year, in the very middle of 

 the season. From whence does this supply come ? 

 It surely cannot be supposed that these fish have been 

 bred from the limited number of summer salmon 

 which have so evaded the nets during previous 

 years ! It must surely be, rather, that the majority of 

 them owe their existence to either spring, autumn 

 or winter fish. 



Many persons assert that spring, summer, and 

 autumn salmon are distinct breeds, but I cannot 

 agree with them, and if the foregoing facts are care- 

 fully considered, perhaps the reader may be rather 

 inclined to the presumption that these fish belong, 

 one and all, to the same stock. Many salmon- 

 anglers are aware, that the spring fish in all its 

 activity and beauty does not much resemble 

 the unshapely appearance of the comparatively 

 indolent autumn fish ; but surely they should not, 

 in the absence of all proof, declare it to belong 

 to a breed wholly distinct from either the summer or 



