16 THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 
exit to the upper water are begun. When the yolk- 
sac has entirely disappeared the little fish is 
practically an inch long, and is ready to roam over 
the quiet shallows and to explore the sanctuaries 
where such small fry congregate. Great numbers of 
such tiny creatures may sometimes be discovered 
in unexpected places. On one occasion I found an 
undermined slope of a weir which I was examining 
crowded with them ; on another occasion an isolated 
pool round the pier of a viaduct was similarly 
peopled. 
At the commencement of their lives more than at 
any other time the salmon move in shoals. They 
are, of course, unable to withstand strong currents, 
and are on emerging from the redds no doubt 
washed down stream to the first quiet localities 
where they can assemble, their instinct apparently 
being to take up positions where they are not easily 
reached by trout and other predatory fishes. In 
such places it is to be feared, however, that certain 
birds are most apt to find them, in spite of their 
strong protective colouration. The black-headed 
gull, which nests inland, and does not disperse 
its young to the coast for several months, is a 
pretty bird, which salmon fishers may freely regard 
with pleasure in a lady’s hat. He is an expert fisher 
of shallow streams, and far outnumbers all other 
birds which in my opinion must be regarded as 
enemies of the salmon. He might well be excepted 
from the protective list of many a County Council. 
The inch-long salmon takes up its free-swimming 
life towards the end of April, and has two years of 
