SALMON. 
177 
that the whole of the roe is not ripe for expulsion at the 
same time. The male follows up the work of his mate by 
shedding on her spawn the fertilizing fluid; and as the parents 
thus proceed the flirther progress of excavation is so contrived 
as to cause the sand to cover in succession the deposited 
treasure, which readily falls to the bottom. When all is done 
the surface is made level, so that none but an accustomed 
eye would be able to discern where it is the fish have been 
at work. 
It may be that the way in which the Salmon deposits its 
spawn shall vary to some extent according to the situation; 
but the method pursued in Scandinavia, if correctly described 
in Mr. Lloyd’s adventures in these regions (vol. i,) on the 
authority of Mr. Alexander Keiller, as he says, after continued 
observations for five years, is so different from anything that 
has been recorded in this country, that we can scarcely refer 
it to the same species. He says that the larger Salmon 
always appear first in the spring, and as the summer advances 
the fish are much smaller, but in autumn heavy fish again 
shew themselves, which, however, he supposes not to be fresh 
run from the ocean, but that they have remained hitherto 
in pools low in the river. In the Save they begin to spawn 
about the first days in November, and so continue through 
the month. The female deposits her eggs in comparatively 
still water, shoal, from six to eighteen inches deep, and 
immediately above a rapid. It is commonly supjiosed that in 
conjunction with the male, the female Salmon scrapes a hole 
or furrow in the bed of the river, in which to deposit her 
eggs, and that afterwards, and as a protection from their 
numerous enemies, they cover them over with gravel; but 
such is not the fact, at least in the Save. The male has 
nothing to do with this part of the work; and the ova, 
instead of being dropped into a cavity, are deposited on a 
comparatively smooth surface. When in the act of spawning 
the female retains its natural position. Her belly is near the 
ground, at times, indeed, probably to rest herself, touching 
It. The process of dropping her eggs appears to be slow. 
hen a few ai’e collected she turns on her side, waves the 
flat of her tail gently downwards to the roe, but lifts it up 
again with great force, by which such a vacuum is caused as 
