846 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
cording to Mela, to the inland (eastern) tracts and 
Lake Ladoga, while it is also found in the basin of 
Lake Onega. 
In Denmark the Charr is wanting; but in the 
alpine regions of Southern Europe and in Great Britain 
and Ireland it leads the same lacustrine life as in Swe- 
den. In Switzerland it has been found, according to 
Tschudi, at a height of 1,900 m. a , in Bavaria, accord- 
ing to Siebold, about 600 — 800 in., and in Austria 
about 400 — 700 m. * * 6 , above the level of the sea. It 
has there maintained its existence since the period when 
a great part of Europe was covered with ice, and when 
it could make its way in the cold seas to its present 
abodes. In the lowlands between the Alpine Regions 
and the North it is now wanting. 
The Charr is a powerful and voracious fish-of- 
prey, in proportion to its size not inferior to the true 
Salmons. Its favourite hunting-grounds lie in deep 
water, where it leads a sociable life; but it also ascends 
to the surface to secure the flies and gnats that come 
within its reach. Its food consists mainly, however, 
of crustaceans, mollusks, and fishes, both large and 
small; and it sometimes gorges itself on fish-roe, even 
that of its own species. In the mountain lakes it has 
generally to content itself with Entomostraca , which 
are, however, plentiful enough, as a rule, to yield it 
an abundant supply of food. Lynceus ( Eurycercus ) la- 
mellatiis, a small crustacean of the group Cladocera, is 
of particular importance in this respect, according to 
Nystrom. In the lowland lakes and those of greater 
dimensions the Charr finds more ample store of Gam- 
maroids, mollusks, and fish, chiefly Gwyniads and Cy- 
prinoids. But not even fishes armed with spines escape 
its maw: in the stomach of a female Charr from Lake 
Wetter no less than five Bullheads ( Coitus quadricor- 
nis ) were found. In Lake Wetter, according to Wide- 
gren, the Charr passes the greater part of the year in 
the depths, and during spring and early summer is 
seldom met with in less than 30 fathoms of water, but 
after midsummer ascends towards evening into shal- 
lower places, where its lustrous body strikes the eye as 
it swims at the surface. During this season it also 
makes its way into various inlets with a sandy bottom. 
Towards autumn it retires to the shallows in the middle 
of the lake, or visits some of the reefs and rocky pools 
near shore. 
The Charr spawns late in autumn and in winter", 
in Sweden most commonly in October, the month dur- 
ing which almost all the breeding Charr received by 
the Royal Museum have been taken. In the fish-ponds 
at Ostanb&ck, however, Mr. Lundberg caught a male 
with running milt on the 10th of September; and in 
the Jemtland lakes, according to Nystrom, the general 
spawning begins during that month. At Stor-Uman 
in Lycksele Lappmark Trybom was told that there the 
Light Charr (the Greater Charr) commences to spawn 
at the beginning of October, the breeding-season last- 
ing 1 — 1 V 2 weeks; but that the Black Charr (the Lesser 
Charr) does not commence before the end of November, 
and takes three weeks to spawn. 
The Scandinavian Charr always select their spawn- 
ing-places in a lake — according to all authenticated 
observations d — by preference on a gravelly or stony 
bottom in 2 — 4 m. of water, or sometimes, according 
to Norback, in water so shallow that the dorsal fin of 
the breeding fish projects above the surface. But they 
frequently resort for this purpose to places near the 
mouth of a stream. Nor do the Swiss Charr ascend 
the rivers to spawn, according to Ratio; but they choose 
water 20 — 60 m. (sometimes 80 m.) deep in the great 
lakes e . In England, however, according to Varrell', 
the Charr of Lake Winandermere generally make their 
way up one of its affluents to breed, only a few of 
them spawning in the lake itself. 
a Fatio believes, however, that in Switzerland the Charr never ascends voluntarily to lakes more than 800 in. above the level of the 
sea; but that it has, no doubt, been introduced by pisciculturists into lakes of greater elevation. 
6 According to Heckel and Knee up to 1,900 m. 
c In Bavaria breeding Charr are said to have been found at the end of June, and in Scotland the spawning-season is said to extend 
from November to February or March (Day, Brit. Salmon., p. 244). Fatio gives instances from Switzerland (1. c., p. 409) of the Charr’s 
spawning in the Lakes of Geneva and Neuch&tel both as early as June and as late as April, the usual months being November and December. 
d According to Nystkom “it seemed in some places (for example Lake Holder) as if the ror (Charr) also resorted to running water 
for the purpose of spawning”. 
e The Deepwater Charr which the Royal Museum received from Lake Wetter though Sergeant-major Hall (1830, without specified 
date) were in breeding condition, a circumstance which perhaps indicates that in Lake Wetter too the Charr may spawn at a considerable 
depth. Nilsson also states that the so-called blanhroding (Bright Charr) spawns in 30 — 40 fathoms of water on a clayey or muddy bottom. 
/ L. c., p. 125. 
