30 
KENDALL: NEW ENGLAND CHARRS. 
that he had never seen one that weighed over 6 ounces and in another place said that they were , 
from 5 to 8 inches long, weighing from 4 to 6 ounces. And Mr. Stanley wrote in his letter to 
Mr. Mather, published in Forest and Stream of May 5, 1887: “As I understand the Sunapee , 
trout are caught of various sizes. The blueback never. Out of a thousand I do not think you 
could select two that will vary of one ounce in weight; or that you could pick up five (take them ^ 
as they come) that will vary an ounce from a pound. Five to the pound is the rule.” | 
One of the most recently published general ichthyological works, A Guide to the Study of | 
Fishes, by David Starr Jordan, 1905, says: “The species rarely exceeds the length of a foot in ' 
the Rangeley Lakes, but in some other waters it reaches a much larger size,” although Jordan 
and Evermann previously stated in American Food and Game Fishes, 1902, that the blue- 
back formerly attained a size of only 6 to 10 inches and 4 to 6 the pound, it is now sometimes 
caught weighing as much as 22 pounds, and is known only from the Rangeley Lakes. 
In American Fishes by G. Brown Goode, 1888, a brief reference to this fish is as follows: 
“ Salvelinus oquassa inhabits the lakes, thence introduced into New York and New Hampshire. 
This is, says Bean, a small species, not known to exceed ten inches in length from existing col- 
lections. It is probably a landlocked form of S. stagnalis, and specimens of much larger size . 
may be expected. Its distribution, also, will be found to be more extensive.” 
In the edition of 1903 revised by Dr. Theo. Gill the following fact is mentioned: “Few or 
none ascend their old accustomed streams. Anglers now and then, however, catch what seem > 
to be ‘ Blue-back’ ; they weigh as high as two and a half pounds.” 
Habits. 
Girard’s account of the habits of the Blueback has already been quoted. ; 
The Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries of Maine for 1874 states that the Blueback ] 
remains in the deep water of the lake from near the middle of November until the middle of 
October when they ascend brooks in countless numbers to spawn, the run lasting about three 
weeks. The male Brook Trout, it is stated, visits the spawning bed and prepares it for the use 
of the females before they arrive, but the Bluebacks go up in pairs, male and female, using 
spawning beds cleared, used, and vacated by Brook Trout. The runs occur at night but in ^ 
the height of the season many fish remain up through the day hidden beneath rocks and stumps. ' 
The Report for 1875 adds that it is never seen but once a year when it comes from the depth of 
the pond where it lives, to spawn in some sandy, pebbly-bottomed brook. 
The Report for 1878 says that they are rarely seen, excepting the last of October, when in 
immense numbers they enter the brooks to spawn, on the same ground as the trout. 
In Forest and Stream of November 26, 1874, the following appears: “On the 10th of Octo- 
ber — or within three days of that date — the outlets of Gull Pond and Dodge Pond, both ; 
