306 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
of fungus in the same place. This condition was rendered insignificant as a result 
of the spawning function alone, as a number were found in October in a like condi- 
tion. That the death at spawning time was only coincident, was indicated by the 
finding of several of them that were not quite ripe, and some ripe fish that had not 
been in the brooks; and young or yearling fish 234 to 3 inches long also were found 
at the beginning of the of the spawning season. 
A few instances of dead fish that evidently had been in the brook were noted. 
They were spent, and their stomachs contained smelt eggs besides insects. This 
fact indicates that the death, even at spawning time, perhaps, could not be ascribed 
to weakness from starvation, especially when the dead and dying fish that had not 
entered the brook were found to contain some food. 
The dead and dying fish picked up on the beaches were more numerous during 
the spring and fall than in the summer. This may be due to the fact that smelts 
reside mostly in deep water during the warmer months, and though they die in 
those months they would be snapped up quickly by trout and salmon. It may 
indicate that in the fall, as the water becomes cooler, the fish approach the surface 
and perhaps the shore, as indicated by the presence of insects in the stomachs of 
those examined. 
The presence of dead smelts along the beaches could not be connected with any 
sudden change of temperature, although they usually and most abundantly appeared 
during or shortly after strong winds. The latter probably accounts only for their 
being washed up, although possibly smelts swimming in shallow water might be 
washed up and thus killed by the heavy seas raised by the strong winds. But this 
would not account for those found when there had been no strong winds. Intes- 
tinal parasites were found in many but not all of the October smelts examined, but 
this partial freedom from parasites seems to eliminate them as a factor in the 
mortality. 
Therefore, the cause of death of so many smelts throughout the season is as yet 
unsolved. After all, those found dead on the shores or floating at the surface are 
few compared with the multitudes that live in the lake, and it is perhaps quite 
natural that there should be deaths due to obscure causes, as among higher animals. 
ENEMIES OF THE FRESH-WATER SMELT 
When an organism preys to any extent upon another it is usually accounted an 
enemy of the latter; so those animals that subsist upon the smelt are enemies of the 
smelt, and in turn the smelt is an enemy to the organisms upon which it feeds. 
Probably at no time during its term of life, from the time it is deposited as an 
egg in the stream to the end of its existence, is the smelt free from enemies. Some 
of the habits of the smelt, at some stage of its existence, render it particularly sub- 
ject to the aggressions of various predatory fishes. While there are no direct obser- 
vations to support the assumption, it is quite likely that some mammals, such as the 
mink and raccoon, and some birds, such as the loon, sheldrake, heron, and kingfisher, 
prey to some extent upon smelts. There is circumstantial evidence to that effect. 
The comparatively deep-water summer resort of the smelt probably is its safest 
retreat; but even there, in some localities, there are fish that feed upon them. Even 
