68 THE HABITS OF THE SALMON. 



natural enough, as they should be the first ready 

 to do so, but whether they actually reach the salt 

 water before the others, in spite of their earlier 

 start, is a very doubtful matter in rivers having 

 a long course. Take the Tay again for ex- 

 ample. The earliest run of salmon there occurs in 

 autumn, all of which spawn in the Dochart, — a 

 tributary of Loch Tay. The spawning season 

 commences in the Dochart at the latter end of 

 October and lasts until the middle of December. 

 The spent fish remain in that river for about six 

 weeks after they have done spawning, when they 

 fall back into Loch Tay, and are caught in con- 

 siderable numbers in the loch by anglers in 

 February and March, but afterwards they are very 

 seldom or perhaps never seen there. The spawning 

 season commences in the main river, the Lyon 

 and other tributaries, in November, earlier or later 

 as the case may be, and numbers of fish which 

 run up later on spawn in the lower waters. 

 If the fish which begin to spawn at the end of 



