SPAWNING SALMON, c^c. 75 



completes the work three yards above where she 

 commenced. The bed to all appearance looks like a 

 newly-filled grave with a hole at the top of it, which 

 I am quite sure has often been the means of letting 

 the angler in over his waders. The spawn is covered 

 in amongst the gravel, some of it ten inches deep. 

 How the small fry with the little sack can come up 

 from this depth I know not, but they do. When the 

 female leaves off, another very often takes her place, 

 and goes on working up in the same way. This 

 year, 1885, I have observed four and five females 

 come after each other and work up in this way until 

 the lead has reached twenty yards long. The male, 

 when not disturbed by other ones, remains beside the 

 female ; he never turns up the gravel ; the only 

 part you now see him take is to push the female 

 sideways off the bed ; as soon as he has done this he 

 returns to his old place, and I presume that is the 

 time he puts the melt on the roe, working at the 

 bottom quite in the bed. If it is a pair of grilse, the 

 male remains pretty quiet ; not so with an old male 



