Its Parr and Smalt. 221 



In the same stream, and in company with the above, my 

 friend Mr. Young captured two small fish, which appear to me 

 to be the smalt of this species. These I carefully compared with 

 the silvery salmon trout and parr of the salmon, and found that 

 as regards shape, fins, gill rays, and outward form, they agree 

 in every particular with the former. The settlers and trap- 

 pers about Sciff Lake, in the upper Schoodic region, state also 

 that this is the young of the " shiner ; " and as the salmon 

 does not frequent these waters, the probability is strong that 

 this is the parr or smalt of the Salmo Gloveri. The follow- 

 ing are the distinguishing points of the two specimens re- 

 ferred to. Both were males : length, five inches and a half ; 

 upper parts and tail bluishrblack with evident traces of darker 

 spots on the head and back. Sides, silvery below the 

 lateral line. Upwards of nineteen brilliant vermilion spots 

 along the lateral line ; gill covers silvery, with two or more 

 round black spots on the operculum. There are ten oval 

 light blue bars crossing the lateral line, as in the parr of the 

 salmon, and most evident when the scales are removed. 



The best, and, as far as I know, the only recorded descrip- 

 tion of its spawning bed, is given in an interesting report on 

 the " Fisheries of the State of Maine," by Mr. Foster* He 

 says: "These beds are made in the gravel where the current 

 is rapid, but just on the verge of a ripple in the water ; rarely 

 seen on the lower side of a ripple. They make large exca- 

 vations — the sand and gravel for which are carried out by the 

 current, and form a mound below. A large number of both 

 sexes are often seen together in one hole. No fighting is 

 observed among the males. It is more common, however, to 

 see a single pair working together, lying side by side in the 

 nest. They make the excavation by fanning with the tail, no 

 digging with the head being observed. They spawn near the 

 entrances to the lakes. Whether the spawning beds lie in their 

 course, or that the fish are attracted by the rafts, but in early 

 * See Report for 1867-8. 



