142 THE SEA-TROUT 



spawn, or, it may be (as we have seen) to spawn a second time, much 

 before July. Indeed I think that it is these fish which largely constitute 

 the great run of small sea-trout that in most sea-trout rivers occurs 

 at and after the middle of July. All those that ascend will spawn and 

 they too will descend as kelts in the ensuing sprmg. 



I have traced — I trust clearly — the supposed ascent and subsequent 

 descent of members of the separated detachments, and it only remains 

 to add that in their descent these fish will pass some of their contem- 

 poraries now ascending the river. They will, I think, first of all, pass 

 maiden fish on a first return since their descent as smolts ; secondly, 

 they will pass some others on a second return, also maiden fish, as not 

 having spawned when they first ascended as whitling, and I think it 

 possible that those descending latest as kelts may even meet some 

 which, having spawned along with themselves and returned early to the 

 estuary, may have again come early into condition to make a second 

 spawning ascent. Should a kelt sea-trout, for instance, have returned 

 early in January, there is no reason why it should not be in condition 

 again by May until which time some of its companion kelts may have 

 lingered in fresh water before descending. Finally they will also meet 

 that class of fish which I supposed might have remained two or more 

 years in the sea without spawning. 



I do not imagine, however, that this apparently complex, but really 

 very simple, running and counter-running takes place in any but the 

 largest of our river systems, and particularly in those where a loch or 

 a series of lochs induces a lengthy stay of the fish in fresh water. In 

 lesser streams the habits of the fish are generally more regular, I mean, 

 the runs of the mature fish are more marked — the first run is in July, 

 spawning takes place in November and the kelts descend in spring. 

 But that the whole stock of contemporaries anywhere ascends en masse 

 to spawn in one year I do not believe for an instant. 



That the period of continuous residence of sea-trout in the sea after 



