1881. ] Observations on the Salmon of the Pacific. 181 
they do not feed, and when they reach the spawning grounds 
their stomachs, pyloric cceca and all, are said to be no larger than 
one’s finger. They will sometimes take the fly, or a hook baited 
with salmon roe, in the clear waters of the upper tributaries, but 
there is no other evidence known to us that they feed when 
there. Only the quinnat and blue-back (then called red-fish) have 
been found in the fall at any great distance from the sea. 
The spawning season is probably about the same for all the 
species. It varies for all in different rivers and in different parts 
of the same river, and doubtless extends from July to December. 
The manner of spawning is probably similar for all the species, 
but we have no data for any except the quinnat. In this species 
the fish pair off, the male, with tail and snout, excavates a broad 
shallow “nest” in the gravelly bed of the stream, in rapid water, — 
at a depth of one to four feet; the female deposits her eggs in 
it and after the exclusion of the milt they cover them with stones 
and gravel. They then float down the stream tail foremost. A 
great majority of them die. In the head-waters of the large 
streams all die, unquestionably. In the small streams, and near 
the sea, an unknown percentage probably survive. The young 
hatch in about sixty days,and most of them return to the ocean 
during the high water of the spring. 
The salmon of all kinds in the spring are silvery, spotted or 
not according to the species, and with the mouth about equally 
symmetrical in both sexes. 
As the spawning season approaches the female loses her silvery 
color, becomes more slimy, the scales on the back partly sink 
into the skin, and the flesh changes from salmon red and becomes 
variously paler, from the loss of the oil; the degree of paleness 
varying much with individuals and with inhabitants of different 
rivers, 
In the lower Satramento the flesh of the quinnat in either spring 
or fall is rarely pale. In the Columbia, a few with pale flesh are 
sometimes taken in spring, and a good many in the fall. In Frazer’s 
river the fall run of the quinnat is nearly worthless for canning 
purposes, because so many are white meated. In the spring very 
few are white meated, but the number increases towards fall, 
when there is every variation, some having red streaks running 
through them, others being red toward the head and pale toward 
the tail. The red and pale ones cannot be distinguished exter- 
