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VIII (It shall be considered a foul)

It shall be considered a foul when, after a race has been started, any competitor, by his oar, scull, boat, or person, comes into contact with the oar, scull, boat, or person of another competitor.

IX. In the event of a foul occurring, any competitor involved therein may claim that any other competitor involved therein be disqualified. Such claim must be made by the competitor himself, before getting out of his boat, to the Umpire or to the Judge. The Judge, upon such claim being made to him, shall take immediate steps to communicate the same to the Umpire. X. If the competitor making the claim was in his proper course and the competitor against whom the claim is made was out of his proper course, the latter shall be disqualified, unless the foul was so slight as not to influence the race, in which case the competitor against whom the claim is made shall be disqualified only if he has seriously encroached upon the proper course of the competitor making the claim. In cases under this law the Umpire may reserve his decision, but must give it within a reasonable time after the finish of the race.

XI. The Umpire in either of the following cases may of his own initiative. and without a claim having been made, disqualify a competitor who is involved in a foul when out of his proper course, provided he does so immediately upon the foul occurring.

A.-If such competitor has in the opinion of the Umpire wilfully encroached upon the proper course of any other competitor involved in the foul. B.-If the foul is of such a nature as clearly to influence the race.

XII. In case of a foul the Umpire shall have power- A.-To place the boats not disqualified in the order in which they come in.

B. To order the boats not disqualified to row again on the same or another day. c.-To re-start the boats not disqualified according to his discretion.

XIII.-Every boat shall abide by its accidents, but if during a race a boat shall be interfered with by any outside boat or person, the Umpire shall have power, if he thinks fit, to re-start the boats according to his discretion, or to order them to row again on the same or another day.

XIV. No boat shall be allowed to accompany or follow any race for the purpose of directing the course of any of the competitors. Any competitor receiving any extraneous assistance may be disqualified, at the discretion of the Umpire.

XV. The whole course must be completed by a competitor before he can be held to have won a trial or final heat, unless he is prevented from doing so by damage occasioned by a foul. Boats shall be held to have completed the course when their bows reach the winning post.

XVI. The Judge shall decide as to the order in which the boats reach the winning post, and such decision shall be final and without appeal.

XVII. The jurisdiction of the Umpire extends over a race and all matters connected with it, from the time the race is specified to start until its termination, and his decision in all cases shall be final and without appeal.

XVIII. Any competitor refusing to abide by the decision of the Umpire, or to follow his directions, shall be liable to be disqualified. IHENLEY-ON-THAMES ROYAL REGATTA.

Original course, top of Temple Island to Henley Bridge. Altered in 1886, below Island to the top of Phyllis Court.

GRAND CHALLENGE CUP, FOR EIGHT OARS.

Established 1839. 1844 Etonian C., Oxford.. 8 25 1845 Cambridge U. B. C.. 8 30 1846 Thames Club, London 1847 Oxford U. B. C. 1848 Oxford U. B. C. ...

Time m. s.

Time m. s. 1839 First Trinity B. C., Cam... 8 30 1879 Jesus Coll., Cambridge... 8 39 1840 Leander Club 915 1880 Leander Club..... 7 3 1841 Cam. Subs. rooms *. 1842 Cam. Subs. rooms 8 30 1843 Oxford U. B. C. (7 1881 London Rowing Club 7 23 1882 Exeter College, Oxoars) 9 O ford 8 11 1883 London Rowing Club 7 51 1884 London Rowing 8 15 Club 7 27 8 O 1885 Jesus Coll., Cam- 9 II bridge.... 7 22 1849 Wadham Coll., Oxford t 1886 Trinity Hall, Cam.. 653 1887 Trinity Hall, Cam.. 6 56 1850 Oxford U. B. C., r. o. 1888 Thames Rowing 1851 Oxford U. B. C.. .. 7 45 Club 7 I 1852 Oxford U. B. C. 1889 Thames Rowing 1853 Oxford U. B. C. 8 3 Club 7 4 1854 First Trinity B. C., 1890 London Rowing Cam....... 8 15 Club 74 1855 Cambridge U. B. C.. 8 32 1856 Royal Chester R. C. 1891 Leander Club.... 6 51 1892 Leander Club 7 48 1857 London Rowing Club 7 55 1893 Leander Club..... 7 12 1858 Cambridge U. B C.. 7 26 1894 Leander Club..... 7 22 1859 London Rowing Club 7 45 1860 First Trinity B. C., 1895 Trinity Hall, Cam.. 7 30 1896 Leander Club...... 7 43 8 55 1897 New College, Oxford...... 6 51 8 15 1898 Leander Club 7 13 2 1899 Leander Club. 7 12 1900 Leander Club 7 6 • 7 45 1901 Leander Club 75 1902 Third Tr. B. C., 7 40 Cam. 7 17 7 26 1903 Leander Club........ 1904 Leander Club..... 79 7 20 1905 Leander Club 6 58 79 731 Cam.... 1861 First Trinity B. C., Cam... 1862 London Rowing Club 8 1863 University Coll., Oxford 1864 Kingston Rowing Club 1865 Kingston Rowing Club 1866 Etonian Club, Oxford 8 29 1867 Etonian Club, Oxford 7 54 1868 London Rowing Club 7 23 1869 Etonian Club, Oxford 7 28 1870 Etonian Club, Oxford 7 18 1871 Etonian Club, Oxford 8.5 1872 London Rowing Club 8 27 1873 London Rowing Club 7 52 1874 London Rowing Club 7 41 1875 Leander Club... 1876 Thames Rowing Club 7 26 1877 London Rowing Club 8 2 1878 Thames Rowing Club 7 42 7 19 1906 C. Naut. de Gand, Belg. 1907 Sport N. de Gand, Belg. 1908 Christ Church, Oxford 1909 Royal Club Nautique de Gand, Belgium 1910 Magdalen Coll., Oxford.. 7 10 7 7 8 7 19 * A foul claimed and allowed against the Leander Club. + A foul claimed and allowed against Second Trinity B. C., Cam. Bibliography. - The Cam and Cambridge Rowing, A. Armytage (Kent), 1889; Rowing, R. C. Lehmann (Innes), 1897; Rowing, Punting, and Punts, D. H. McLean and W. H. Grenfell (Lawrence and Bullen), 1898; Oxford Rowing, W. E.. Sherwood (Frowde), 1900; The Story of the Inter-University Boat-Race, W. Peacock (G Richards), 1902; Rowing, S. Crowther, the American Sportsman's Library (Macmillan), 1902; Rowing, R. P. P. Rowe and C. M. Pitman, Punting, P. W. Squire, the Badminton Library (Longmans), 1903; Rowing and Sculling, W. G.

East (Pearson), 1904; Rowing, Sculling and Punting, G. Rixon (Bell), 1904; The Complete Oarsman, R. C. Lehmann (Methuen), 1908; A History of the First Trinity Boat-Club, W. W. R.

Ball (Bowes, Cambridge), 1908; The Record of the University Boat-Race, G. G. Treherne and J. H. D. Goldie, revised by C. M. Pitman (Unwin), 1909; Racing at Henley, T. A. Cook (Cox), 1911; The Rowing Almanack and Oarsman's Companion, B. C. C. (Cox), in progress. [The Publishers wish to express their sincere thanks to Messrs. S. D. Muttlebury and F. J. Escombe for revising the whole of the Rowing article, and also to Mr.

Theodore Cook for permission to quote from his book, "Racing at Henley."] RUFF. Ruff and Reeve, the male and female of an aberrant species of sandpiper (Machetes pugnax), distinguished from its fellows by a marked difference of size in the sexes (the male being one-third larger) and also by a sexual difference of plumage-an unusual thing with sandpipers. The curious frill which is peculiar to the male bird, and from which he derives his name, is assumed only during the breeding season, and is put forth in about five weeks from the beginning of April. The variety in the colour and markings of the frill is very striking, scarcely two birds being alike in this respect; and from the observation of moulting birds in confinement it has been ascertained that the same individual will annually produce the same coloured frill. After the breeding season the ruff and reeve are so much alike as to differ only in size, and in the more robust character of the bill and legs in the male.

The colour of the legs and feet varies in different individuals, being in some orange, in others grey, in others again yellowish brown. Like other sandpipers, the ruff is gregarious, but, unlike them, is polygamous.

In the spring of the year, when resorting to the marshes for the purpose of nesting, the ruffs congregate like blackcocks, and challenge and spar at each other, contending for possession of the reeves. (Stonehouse, Hist. and Topog. Isle of Axholme, 1839.) This trait in their character has suggested the generic name Machetes (a warrior) and the specific name pugnax, which is equally appropriate.

It is probable that the common English names for the sexes of this bird were bestowed, as in the case of so many other names for birds, from some conspicuous feature displayed, such as the frill, and may therefore be traceable to the A.S. reafan to dress, and reofan to unclothe; so that the [RYPE sexes would be the ruff and the reeve, the bird with the ruff and the bird without it.

There was a time when ruffs and reeves were amongst the most characteristic of English fen birds, and were much esteemed for the table, being taken in Lincolnshire in nets, and in Norfolk in horsehair snares.

They annually nested in several of the Eastern counties; but drainage and the increased cultivation of waste lands, combined with the greed of poulterers seeking the birds and collectors the eggs, have combined to banish it from its natural haunts in this country, except as a periodical migrant in spring and autumn. Only on very rare cccasions have nests been found of late years. Until within the last few years there used to be a considerable traffic in these birds with London poulterers, who imported numbers of them in the spring from Holland, whence they were consigned with godwits, redshanks, peewits, and, occasionally, dotterel. This traffic, however, has now been stopped, and if English owners of marsh-lands would follow the good example set in Holland, and enforce an observance of the close time in their respective neighbourhoods, it is not too much to expect that some at least of these birds might return to occupy such of their former nesting-haunts as still remain secluded.

J. E. HARTING.

Bibliography. Fauna of Norfolk, 2nd edition, p. 102; Birds of Norfolk, vol. ii., Henry Stevenson; Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata (1881), Clarke and Roebuck, p. 76; On the Distribution of Birds in Great Britain during the Nesting Season, A. G. Moore (The Ibis, 1865); Zoologist, 1890, p. 204; Zoologist, 1889, p. 336; Nature in Eastern Norfolk, Patterson, p. 233.

RYPE (pl. Ryper, Norsk.) RIPA (pl.

Ripor, Swedish). Lagopus subalpina, willow-grouse; Lagopus alpina, ptarmigan.

Classification. It will be understood from the above heading that two of the five species of the grouse tribe found in Scandinavia are termed "Rype." The first, Lagopus subalpina, generally known to English sportsmen as the "willow-grouse," is called the "Skov- or Dal- rype," the wood or dale grouse; and second, Lagopus alpina, which seems to be identical with the ptarmigan of Scotland and the Alps of central Europe (Lagopus mutus), the "Fjeldrype" or fell-grouse. Inasmuch as the skov-rype is found in large numbers at a considerable altitude on the fjeld, the terms do not at first sight seem altogether distinctive, but they are justified by the fact that the skov-rype, habitually fond as it is of high land, is also at home on the wooded slopes and in the coppices of the valley, and never frequents the highest solitudes of barren stone and snowdrift which are the favourite haunts of its half-brother, the After Archibald Thorburn.

RYPER.

Archibald Thorburn THE TATE LIBRARY, BRIXTON, S.W.

RYPE] fjeld-rype; whilst the latter, even when driven by hard weather to seek the lower hills, never, or very rarely, descends into or below the zone of the birch or pine.

Ryper, of one type or another, are found in Russia, Finland, Greenland, Spitzbergen, Iceland, Novaya Zembla, Newfoundland, and all along the northern coast of Asia and Canada. Some doubt appears to exist among naturalists as to the exact number of separate species. Thus, according to Prof.

Faber, the rype of Iceland, which he terms Lagopus islandorum, is distinct from the several other species found in the rest of Europe; but Mr. Baring Gould doubts whether this bird is not identical with that of Greenland, Lagopus reinharti; while Mr.

Lock affirms that Iceland produces in limited numbers both the true skov-rype or willowgrouse, and the true fjeld-rype or ptarmigan, besides an abundance of hybrids between these two species. The fact seems to be that in the most northern regions, where bitter winters are often succeeded by cold summers, the ptarmigan are driven to the same shelter and feeding-grounds as the willow-grouse, and occasionally remain there during the breeding-season, with the result that varieties are produced by intermixture, and become more or less constant. It has been affirmed by naturalists that the Scandinavian willow-grouse and the redgrouse of the British Isles are one and the same bird, the difference in plumage being simply due to climatic influences, and, moreover, that were an interchange of habitat effected, the shifted birds would in due time respectively assimilate their whole colouring to that of the indigenous species or variety.

This is clearly a question that can be proved only by experiment.

Description. There are few game birds more handsome than a cock willow-grouse in full autumn plumage. His head, back, neck, breast and tail are of the true redgrouse colour, sharply contrasted with the white of the belly, legs, and pinion feathers, the latter being lined with delicate black shafts. Both kinds of ryper become pure white in winter, and at that season immense numbers are snared by the peasants and exported in a frozen state to the great markets of mid-Europe, when the willow-grouse may readily be distinguished by his being nearly a third larger than the ptarmigan.

Habitat. Although the willow-grouse is undoubtedly partial, especially in hot weather, to the patches of dwarf willow which, however locally extensive, form but a small percentage of the covert on lower Scandinavian fjelds, it has always seemed to the writer that the appellation of "birch grouse" would be more truly indicative of its habits, for, to quote his own words THE TATE LIBRARY, BRIXTON, S.W. written elsewhere: "however capable the bird may be of accommodating itself cheerfully to circumstances, or however capricious at times in the choice of a residence, the birch covert, whether in the form of a wood, or, higher up, of a thicket, or, higher still, of knee-deep scrub, is emphatically its favourite haunt and chosen home." There is therefore no phase of willow-grouse shooting more enjoyable than the beat where these conditions of vegetation exist, namely, along the slopes and over the rolling plateau of the lower fjeld-as opposed to the true "high fjeld," which is far above the limit of tree or shrub. But, as has been suggested above, the bird will thrive more or less wherever the ground at all suits it, which means in various localities altogether dissimilar in character of soil and vegetation. The elevation at which it is found is dependent in some degree on latitude; thus, in the extreme south of Norway, where it is, however, comparatively rare, it must be sought for at a height of not less than several hundred feet, whilst, on approaching the Arctic circle, it is as much at home on tracts a few feet above sea-level as on the crest of the fjeld.

It abounds on some of the islands of the west coast which are all but treeless, and covered with deep heather, affording sport identical with that of a flat Scotch moor.

Shooting. In the Lofodens, magnificent ryper shooting is obtained. On Ulfo, otherwise called Hadsel, for example, which is strictly preserved by Englishmen, from 1,500 to 2,000 brace can be bagged annually over dogs by two guns. But this, although it rises to barren summits and crags, is essentially a birch island, with in some parts unusually extensive willow swamps and thickets. Nor is the mainland of Scandinavia wanting in excellent ryper tracts, but, as a rule, the sportsman in pursuit of the bird must be moderate in his expectations, and be more than satisfied if, after a hard day's work, the bag contains twenty or twenty-five brace, and with even half that he should not be discontented. Much depends on the breeding seasons; really good ones are few and far between. Considerable disappointment is often caused to lessees of shootings by the habit willow-grouse have of migrating in a mass from one range to another. As regards forest shooting, it may be said that these birds are never found in the depth of the pine forest pure and simple, but where there is a fair admixture of birch among the pines, a few coveys may be hoped for. In heavy rain and storm they are apt to take shelter in the thickest covert, but in hot, dry weather they work up to the scrub of the open fjeld. For the woods, steady close-hunting dogs, such as well-trained spaniels, are desirable, and for the fjeld wide-ranging but staunch pointers or setters.

Scandinavian dogs are often trained to break their point when repeatedly whistled after, and return to the shooter to report game found: they will then lead him back to it.

Dogs perfect in this respect are rare and real treasures.

HENRY POTTINGER.

SALMON (Salmo salar). - The salmon is an inhabitant of the temperate and Arctic portions of the Atlantic Ocean, being represented in the Pacific by the Quinnat (S. onchorhynchus) and Steelhead salmons (S. gairdnerii). The quinnat and allied species are to be distinguished from the true salmons, amongst other structural differences, by the greater number of rays in the SALMON spawns in the sea. (The eel, for reasons that it is impossible to give here, is undoubtedly a sea-fish which has taken up its residence mainly in fresh water.) Classification. Of the salmonidæ known in this country as salmon, sea trout, lake trout, river trout, brook trout, &c., the modern line of scientific thought has reduced the many so-called species of trout to the position of varieties of one very variable type. It has been generally concluded that the salmon (S. salar) is a somewhat definite form subject to but few variations. Several authorities, such as Fatio, Nillson, and Sundeval, have pointed out that this is not the case, and that the border line between S. salar and S. trutta only requires to be rendered still further indefinite by the addition SALMON. FRESH RUN FISH. anal fin. Both the Pacific and Atlantic salmons deposit their ova in fresh water, making periodical excursions up rivers, past apparently insurmountable obstacles for this purpose, while some forms have permanently taken up their residence in fresh water. The view that the salmon is a sea-fish is that held by the most profound thinkers and investigators of the century, of whom it is only necessary to mention Fleming, 1828; Agassiz, 1834; Buckland, 1880; and Day, 1887. Professor F. A. Smitt, of Stockholm, the greatest living authority on the family, who has collected the views of the many able Scandinavian workers who preceded him, and added to them himself from his own researches, speaks as follows:- "The evolution of the salmon family, we might hence conclude, began with marine fishes of the smelt and capelin type."

The evidence in support is too voluminous to be given here, but is briefly as follows:- (1) The early fossil forms were all marine. (2) The sea-going forms degenerate if debarred from the sea, and the degenerate forms closely resemble the fresh-water forms. (3) Many marine fishes spawn in freshwater; but no purely fresh-water fish of anomalous specimens, to sweep away entirely the so-called scientific barrier between these forms. That this had already happened was the view advanced by Professor Smitt, of Stockholm, in 1894. In this country, the present writer in the same year independently arrived at a similar conclusion by a totally different method of reasoning.

The structural differences between S. salar and the migratory trout S. trutta are few in number, and may be briefly put as follows:- (1) The elongation of the form, together with the proportion between the least diameter of the wrist or peduncle of the tail and the total length of the body and head.

This in the salmon is usually less than 8 per cent. of the total body length, whereas, in the trout, it is usually more. (2) The scales in salmon are usually larger than in trout; the best method of reckoning is to count the row of scales from the hind border of the adipose or mort fin downwards and forwards to the lateral-line.

The number in salmon is twelve or less; in trout twelve or more. (3) Yarrell, years ago, stated that a line drawn from the tip of the snout to the greatest convexity of the posterior margin of the gillcover passed through the eye in SALMON] the salmon and below in the trout. This point was considered of the greatest value by Day. (4) The length of the maxillary or upper-jaw bones. In the salmon these bones are less and in the trout more than 36 per cent. of the total length of the head as measured by the line drawn in (3). (5) The number of gill-rakers on the outer row of the first right gill-arch; in salmon there are more, in trout less, than seventeen.

Attention was first drawn to this point factors which influence the time of migration.

On entering fresh water the fish make their way up stream in shoals, consisting, as a rule, each of one sex, surmounting apparently impossible obstacles, such as weirs, cascades, &c., by leaps and plunges rarely exceeding six feet in height, and negotiating greater obstacles as an Irish hunter does an earth bank. The speed with which the fish travels depends entirely on the level and temperature of the water. Arrived at the upper portion of the tributaries, especially those consisting of gravelly shallows with A KELT, i.e., AN UNCLEAN SALMON. [Photograph by J. Turner Turner. by Smitt, and it appears to be the most reliable test. All these differences are subject to variation, and do not seem to be present in the young to the same extent, while anomalous specimens are continually being brought forward to confuse the student.

Many of these are forwarded to scientists under the title of "Bull-trout," which name, so far, has not been applied to any one known variety.

The Life History of the Salmon, as far as it is at present known, is as follows:- The mature fish enter our rivers for the purpose of depositing their spawn at various periods of the year, the first ascent commencing as early as December and January in some rivers, and as late as July or August in others. It has been thought that some rivers are never without clean (i.e., nonspawning) fish. The temperature of sea and river, together with the high or low river level, are the chief deep pools, they await the approach of winter. With the first breath of frost the fish mate, each female being henceforth provided with a male who maintains his position by force of arms. Most authorities state that the kyp (a gristly prolongation upwards of the lower jaw, interlocking with the upper jaw bones) grows in the male in order to serve as a weapon in those encounters, as it connects the slender, widely separated jaws, and makes a good semblance of the human fist.¹ Many accounts are given of the actual spawning of the salmon, but all agree in three essentials: first a trough is made in the gravel; second, a few eggs are deposited at a time, fertilised, and then covered over; third, the eggs, when 1 The writer's own opinion is that the lower jaw of the male is used in ploughing the trough in the redd, and hence is turned up like the runner of a sleigh, and interlocked with the upper jaw to give it strength. deposited, are sticky and adhere to the gravel.

These points are of great value, for the reason that from their great size and relative specific gravity, if the ova were not deposited in a trough, to the bottom and sides of which they adhere, and if they were not covered over after fertilisation, they would fall an easy prey to birds and fishes, which, whenever they get the opportunity, devour them greedily.

The reason of burying the ova in gravel is simply that, if covered over with any finer material, such as clay, sand or mud, the contents would be injured and the free play of oxygenated water prevented. To the writer it has always appeared that the reason the salmon seek the rivers is two-fold: first, to protect their large eggs, which, owing to their weight, must lie on the bottom; second, to provide efficiently aerated water such as is only found in gravelly shallows. As has been stated, the period during which salmon spawn varies with the temperature, extending on various rivers from October to February.

By the state of the thermometer the incubation of the eggs is also affected, lasting as a rule from about 90 to 114 days! by the use of cold or heat in artificial hatching, this period can be still further shortened or protracted. The eggs are, when deposited, soft semitransparent bodies which adhere to everything they touch (Day's British and Irish Salmonida, p. 31). From the moment of their deposition, they begin to absorb water, and unless fertilisation at once proceeds, will quickly pass into such a condition that this process can no longer be carried out. The average ovum is from 22 to 3 of an inch in diameter, and of a pinky-green hue: should the developing egg die, it becomes opaque, while non-fertilised eggs usually remain clear. When first hatched, the fish are minute tadpole-like creatures, called alevins, each with a large sac depending from the under surface behind the gill-opening. This contains the nourishment that serves for support till they can fend for themselves, a period varying from three to eight weeks according to temperature. When this sac has been absorbed and the fish is able to feed itself, it passes into the fry stage, being about 125 of an inch in length at two months, and growing to 3.75 inches at six months, when it becomes what is known as a parr. The salmon parr is distinguished roughly from the young trout by the tip of the mort fin not being coloured.

While in the larval condition, the young fish lie quietly among the interstices of the gravel in the shallows, hiding away from their enemies. It may be mentioned paren- [SALMON thetically that of the enemies of both eggs and alevins, the chief are the dabchicks, ducks, and swans, which are placed in the order of greatest destructiveness; next come the water-vole and the common rat. In the insect world, the larvæ of the may flies (Ephemeridæ), the caddises (Phryganidæ), and specially the larva of the dragon fly require mention. It is now generally allowed that few fertile ova are destroyed by fish, for the reason that they are so deeply buried that they cannot be got at by them. Some few, however, are disturbed by sudden floods or the up-rooting of the redds by late spawning salmon, in which case they are carried away down stream and are then devoured with avidity by nearly every fish that swims.

Both the so-called "bull-trout" and the chub have acquired a most unenviable and usually undeserved notoriety in this respect. The fry, on the other hand, are a bonne bouche to birds, beasts, reptiles (frogs and newts), and fish of many kinds. In the parr stage they are the favourite food of the adult spawned fish. The latter are known as Kelts and are at first scarcely to be recognised as salmon at all: the silver colour which is so characteristic of the fresh-run fish is replaced in the growing fish, the male being yellowish red, and the female black.

This change has been gradually taking place since the fish left the sea, but it is not so markedly noticeable till the spawning is taking place.

The weight of evidence at present goes to prove that the salmon on entering fresh water eats but little, but certainly makes up for lost time after it has spawned.

On its way to the sea the kelt feeds voraciously, and is especially fond of the young of its own and allied species. The lanky, out of condition fish will fill out, and to a certain extent recover its colour and condition, to such a degree that the inexperienced will mistake frequently a "well-mended kelt" for a fresh-run fish.

No structural differences exist between the parr stage of salmon and sea-trout, and both possess a similar number of parr marks; the only practical method of distinguishing the one from the other is that given under No. 5 of the points of difference above, namely, the number of gill-rakers. The salmon remains in this stage for one or two years; that is to say, some pass into the next stage in the spring of the next year, while others remain as parrs until the corresponding season twelve months later. At the end of one or two seasons, as the case may be, the salmon parr, by this time grown to between 5 and 7 inches in length, becomes somewhat silvery all over, owing to a deposit in the skin, which covers the head and gills, and lines the scales. This change SALMON] in appearance is accompanied by change of habit; instead of lying in wait in the shallows for every floating object, the little fishes, which are now called smolts, gather together in small parties and rapidly proceed seawards. During the succeeding summer these fish again enter our rivers; they are now small salmon called grilse, of from 3 to 8 lb. in weight, distinguished from the adult fish by the more forked shape of the tail and the thinner scale, which, when the grilse is fresh captured, curls a little at the edges, and gives the so-called diamond-scaled appearance.

These fish continue to run up till late term is also applied to the young of seatrout).

The salmon grilse as:- Fork tail and peal (Ireland, not Cornwall).

The term botcher is used in the Severn, but usually is applied not to grilse, but to small salmon.

The adult male before spawning as:- Red-fish, summer cock, gib fish, gilling.

The adult female before spawning as:- Baggit, simen, and gilling.

The adult male after spawning as:- Kypper, kelt, spent fish, gled and moffatman. [Photograph by J. Turner Turner.

AN UNSEASONABLE SALMON (MALE). autumn. It has been suggested that the early grilse are the smolts of the preceding year, but practical experiments have shown that the smolts can grow into a grilse in the course of a few weeks (Day, British and Irish Salmonida, p. 93).

Some of the grilse spawn, others again appear to visit the river and return to the sea without performing that function.

The adult fish may remain months in the fresh water before spawning, and the general impression amongst competent observers is that salmon reproduce their young every alternate year, and that many rivers contain non-gravid fish all the year round.

Nomenclature. -The salmon parr is also known as:- Samlet, pink, skeggar, gravelling, laspring, fingerling, and black fin.

The salmon smolt as:git.

The adult female after spawning as :- Shedder, mack, shrag, and sometimes bag- The term laurel is used by some as meaning a "well-mended kelt," and by others as a fish which has been in fresh water all summer.

CHARLES S. PATTERSON. salmon SALMON-FISHING. - The (Salmo salar) is the chief of what are known as game fish, in distinction from coarse fish. The rivers of Great Britain are naturally extremely prolific in this noble creature; but pollution, artificial obstructions and excessive netting in the sea, the estuaries, and especially in the rivers themselves, have sadly reduced the opportunities of the angler. The consequence is that salmon fishing has become one of the most Mort, smelt, and sprod (although this costly sports, and none but men of ample means can afford to rent good angling waters. The remedy for this state of things can be found only in the adoption by the legislature of the unanimous recommendation of the Royal Commission on Tweed and Solway salmon fishings, which reported in 1896 to the effect that rivers, being at once the sole breeding grounds of salmon and the only place (except inland lakes) where they can be taken with the rod, should be reserved exclusively for rod fishing, and that net fishing in tidal waters should be so regulated as to permit the ascent of a proportion of every run of salmon at all seasons.

In very many rivers netting is carried on now to such an extent that practically spring and summer angling, which afford the cream of the sport, have ceased to exist, and few or no fish reach the angling waters till the autumn floods, when they have begun to deteriorate in condition.

Rivers vary very much in the season at which salmon begin to enter them. Many theories have been propounded to account for this, among which that which assigns a high temperature of water as essential to an early stream, perhaps meets with most general acceptance. But this cannot be supported by the observation of facts. The rivers of Sutherland and Caithness, comparatively small streams, depend for their volume entirely on melted snow, but are among the earliest rivers in Scotland.

Salmon run into them throughout the winter, and are taken with the fly in January, sometimes after breaking the ice to enable a line to be cast. On the other hand, some of the rivers on the south-west coast of Scotland never contain salmon till August. In Ireland a perplexing contrast may be noted between the Bush and the Bann. The latter is a fine sweeping river, flowing from broad Lough Neagh, and draws no salmon till May or June. Very few miles to the east the Bush enters the sea, a dirty black ditch compared to the Bann; but it gives excellent early sport, of which the best is past before angling on the Bann has begun. The Tweed is naturally an early river, and a noble one; but in ordinary seasons there is little sport to be had except with fish which enter the river before the netting season opens on February 15th, and after it closes on September 14th. Practically, the whole of the summer run of fish is swallowed up in the nets.

Lures. The favourite and most sportsmanlike way of taking salmon is with the artificial fly, though, of recent years, spinning with the artificial minnow or with some small natural fish has come into common vogue in certain waters. Fly-fishing, however, is a much more fascinating art, much more graceful and exhilarating, and, above [SALMON all, one which neither disturbs the water nor scares the fish, so that other modes should be employed, if at all, at most very sparingly, in rivers where salmon will take the fly. The only places where minnow-fishing is excusable as the rule are deep lakes, like Loch Tay, where the fish lie far out of sight of any lure near the surface.

Worm-fishing presents so few attractions that few sportsmen care to persevere with it; yet it is sometimes practised with effect in places which, though known to contain salmon, are not suitable for the higher art.

The boiled prawn is certainly a deadly bait, and will take fish, not only under conditions favourable for the fly, but when they are distinctly the reverse-in still pools unruffled by the wind and in bright sunshine. Unfortunately, the use of the prawn in certain rivers is not confined to such emergencies. Lazy or greedy fishermen, perhaps, after fishing a pool once over with the fly, clap on a prawn and ransack every recess where a salmon may lie. It is well that there are others who hold that the right object of a sportsman is to catch fish in the most sportsmanlike way, and will not permit in their waters the use of any bait but the artificial fly. ne The Rod. Of the rods and tackle requisite for salmon fishing, general mention has been made already (see ANGLING).

Much, however, of the angler's success, and still more of his comfort, depends on the adaptation of his rod to the size and swiftness of the river he intends to fish. In northern streams, early in the season, when the water is cold, salmon will not stir at any but flies of the largest size; hooks of three and even four inches long must be used, and the weight of these, with a line heavy in proportion, makes it necessary to use a far m more powerful rod than at other times.