68 



Appendices lo Twenty-fourth Annual Report 



the latter 10 lbs. in 506 days. No doubt the second fish had spawned 

 in the interval, or the increase would have been more marked ; but the 

 interest of the recaptures lies not in the increase of weight, but in the 

 fact that two fish should have followed so similar a course in contra- 

 distinction to the condition revealed by the other coastal recaptures as 

 shown in the red lines. There is nothing to show that this is more 

 than a coincidence, but as Helmsdale and Brora marking is likely to be 

 continued on an even greater scale more evidence may be gathered in 

 the future. The five fish which are traced from the Deveron out of the 

 Moray Firth, represented by lines M, N, 0, P, and R, offer, however, 

 the most striking feature of the chart. The similarity of the records 

 are remarkable, and can hardly, I think, be considered as accidental. 

 The details are : — 





No. 



Lbs. 



Inches. 



Condition. 



Sex. 



Date. 



Increase 

 in 



Weight. 



Increase 

 in 



Length. 



Interval 



of 

 Time. 



M 



209b | 



15* 



20 (est.) 



37 



Kelt, 

 Clean. 



F. 



F. 



20th Feb. 1905. 

 26th August 1905. 



Lbs. 

 } 41 (est.) 



Tn. 



Days. 

 187 



N 



9639a 1 



4 



fy 



25 



Kelt, 

 Clean. 



F. 

 F. 



28th April 1903. 

 25th July 1903. 







88 



0 



9607a 1 



3 

 6£ 



24 

 26 



Kelt. 

 Clean. 



F. 



24th March 1903. 

 11th July 1903. 





2 



109 



P 



6508a 1 



3 



23 

 25£ 



Kelt. 

 Clean. 



M. 



11th March 1901. 

 11th July 1901. 



} n 



2ft 



122 



R 



202b 1 



16 



25 



39 

 40£ 



Kelt. 

 Clean. 



M. 



14th April 1904. 

 19th August 1904. 



}* 



H 



126 



The mark in the fish represented by line M was only noticed after the fish had 

 been sent by rail from Aberdeen to New Quay, in Cornwall. 



Another Deveron fish, marked 9523a in Laithers Water when a kelt, 

 was recaptured the following winter in the lower waters of the Spey, 

 an unspawned female, thus forming an exception to the Deveron series. 



With regard to the migrations not referred to in the chart, we have 

 18 fish, marked as kelts, recaptured in their own rivers (including a 

 Loch Lomond sea trout and a Deveron sea trout). These recaptures 

 bear out what was in my second report on this subject described as the 

 short and long habits of migration. Similar evidence has also recently 

 been reported in connection with the Irish salmon marking.* In the 

 present instance, however, it is noticeable that the great majority of 

 the fish have spent more than a. year in the sea before returning to 

 the river. Omitting the two sea trout and taking the 16 remaining 

 fish, we have only No. 9147 representing a short migration and recapture 

 in nine months. The others show intervals of from llf months to 

 two years, viz. : — 



8437a— 17 Months. 732b— 24 Months. 1204b— 13 Months. 



9043a— 23 „ 807B-16 ., 1223b— 12f „ 



4B-17 „ 1158b-13£ „ 1232b— 13 



16b— 17 „ 1180b-H| „ 1266b— llf 



672b— 18 „ 1203b— 12£ 9410a— 14 



It may be noticed that on 26th April of this year three recaptures 

 were made in Loch Brora, and that of these, two of the fish had been 

 marked on the same dav, 7th March 1905. No. 1208 had gained 7| lbs., 

 and No. 1223 5 lbs. 



* A. B. E. Hillas, Fisheries. Ireland, Set. Invest., 1904. VII. (1906). 



