98 THE HABITS OF THE SALMON. 



landed. Nearly all were fresh run and quite 

 silvery. Grilse were equally plentiful that year 

 in other fisheries on the Tay and equally scarce 

 in 1886. Out of 136 fish falling to my own and 

 one other rod on the Stanley water in the autumn 

 of 1886, sixty-seven only were grilse, and their 

 weights averaged considerably less than those 

 caught in 1885; oi^^Y two scaled 10 lbs., not one 

 of them went 9 lbs., and the remainder only fan 

 from 5 lbs. to 8 lbs. It would be interesting to 

 know whether the corresponding spawning seasons 

 of the previous years had been good or bad ones, 

 but with the limited knowledge we at present 

 possess, it is impossible to give a more satisfactory 

 answer to Mr. Willis Bund's question. 



Salmon run into fresh water every- day in the 

 year, but, so far as my memory goes, there has 

 been no attempt made to explain why grilse never 

 make their appearance before April, and cease to 

 run after October. Thousands and thousands of 

 grilse are supposed to be in condition to leave 



