298 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
On the night of April 19 further observations were made on the smelts that 
airly swarmed in Pike Brook. They did not seem to be disturbed by lantern light 
but, of course, it is possible that their movements may have been more or less mod- 
ified by it. No very peculiar movements were observed. There appeared to be no 
pairing, each fish lying by itself, quietly on the bottom, slightly on its side in a sort 
of a curve. Sometimes one would lie near another and occasionally one would dart 
forward under the edge of a partly submerged sod. 
During the day of the 20th the smelts were all in pools, usually stationary with 
heads pointed upstream, occasionally swimming a little and now and then turning 
to one side or downstream. 
During the day of the 22d a fair-sized school was seen in the pool by the hatch- 
ery, but there was none in the deep pool where they were caught with hook. There 
were three or four “scattering” smelts in other places. In the night the fish were 
scattered mostly in shallow and quick water. Some that were probably spawning 
were observed. There was one group of 8 or 10 or more individuals side by side and 
before and behind, in rather quick water, neither going forward nor backward, but 
swinging back and forth with the current like a bunch of moss, those ahead with a 
slighter motion than those farther behind. A few others in pairs, or single, were in 
stiller, shallow water apparently spawning, moving about slightly but usually with 
the head upstream. There was some current here. They seemed to some extent to 
lie on their sides, and they moved up into shallow water until their noses were out 
of water on the gravel. One fish got on top of a stone with half of its body out of 
water and stayed there some time without seeming to mind it. There seemed to be 
no contact of bodies except apparently accidentally or incident to the swinging or 
waving in the current. On the other side of the brook on a rather steep slope of 
sand and clay bank in shallow water, quite a number were seen likewise station- 
ary. Their movements were similar to the others just previously mentioned. No 
lantern was used in watching the first two lots mentioned. While the smelts men- 
tioned remained stationary, many others were shooting up, over, and among them 
on their way up the brook. 
There was a good run on April 23. At 8 p. m. some up under the over-hanging 
bank on a steep shelving bottom were watched. Their heads were upstream and they 
were swinging or waving from side to side, their bodies occasionally, perhaps, brush- 
ing against a neighbor, but no other contact was noticed and apparently no pairing 
or any approach to it took place. 
The spawning period varies from three to six weeks at Sunapee, lasting on an 
average not over a month. The runs gradually increase in numbers of smelts to 
the height or middle of the season, then rapidly decrease in number of individuals. 
No smelts were actually seen leaving the brooks until April 18, when some were 
reported to be drifting tail first out of the mouth of King Hill Brook at 8.30 p. m. 
It is possible that they were really an inrun that settled back toward the lake upon 
the approach of the observer. On April 24, well up Pike Brook, at 9.30 p. m., a 
good many smelts were evidently running downstream head first, but at the mouth 
smelts were streaming in in large numbers. At no other times, however, were any 
seen actually descending the brook, although a decreasing number was observed in 
