70 THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 
of the habit, and show that fish of all weights adopt 
at one time or other this varied period of marine 
sojourn. It will be instructive now, however, to 
refer to a few concrete cases by way of illustration, 
showing by the actual data collected respecting 
individual fish the nature of the evidence, for tables 
such as these often conceal truth as language con- 
ceals thought. And first we may conveniently 
take the case of grilse, and see what becomes of them 
after spawning and descending to the sea. 
Amongst the Tay records we have two marked 
grilse kelts which may be selected. They were 
numbered 9402 and 8044. The former adopted the 
short period in the sea, and the latter the long 
period. No. 9402 was recaptured after five and a half 
months (the average period) as a summer fish weigh- 
ing 103 lb. The record of marking and recapture 
is as follows :— 
9402 { 4 lb. 25” Kelt grilse Fem. Feb. 5, 1903 Tay Upper water 
104 ,, 30” Clean salmon Fem. July31,1903 Tay Estuary nets 
The other grilse kelt (although we may observe that 
the length is remarkable for a grilse), after spending 
fourteen months in the sea, or an autumn and winter 
longer than the first-mentioned fish, returned as a 
clean spring fish of the large class, a class, be it 
observed, which is more pronounced and definitely 
constant in the Tay than in any other river in Scot- 
land. This record is as follows : — 
8044 { 64 1b. 29” Keltgrilse Fem. Jan. 9,1902 Tay Stanley 
19 ,, 362” Clean salmon — Mar.14,1903 Tay Benchill 
