190 



Brown Trout 



feed very little, owing to the scarcity of food at this season. They 

 then hide under stones and banks, and in deep holes out of the 

 reach of their enemies. 



When the weather becomes warm, about the beginning of April, 

 they leave their winter quarters and roam about in search of food. 

 Towards the end of April a great change comes over them a change 



almost as great as that from a parr to a 

 smolt. They now assume a silvery coat, 

 and it is difficult to tell them from the 

 smolt of the sea-trout. During the summer 

 they feed on worms, flies, larvae, beetles, 

 shell-fish, and many different kinds of flies 

 that are blown on to the loch or stream 

 from the land. By March of the following 

 year, if the feeding has been fairly good, 

 they will be from 8 to 9 inches long, and 

 will weigh about 4 oz. I have seen some, 

 which were kept in confinement and 

 regularly fed, weigh 2 Ibs. in two years. 

 The milder the climate the more food 

 there is and the trout have a longer season to feed in, con- 

 sequently they become larger in a shorter period. In a loch a 

 three-years-old trout is usually about three-quarters of a pound, 

 while in streams they are usually much smaller. 



In quick- running streams containing little food, many, when 

 three years old, will not weigh more than 3 oz., showing clearly 

 that their size at a certain age depends chiefly on the feeding. 

 At four years of age they should weigh i to i^ Ibs. ; at five years, 

 from i^ to 2\ Ibs. ; at six years, from 2^ to 3^ Ibs. ; at seven 

 years, from 3^ to 5 Ibs. Only a few of them reach this size, and 

 they soon die off. It is only when the feeding is good that a 

 weight of from 3 to 5 Ibs. is attained. Trout leave the larger 

 rivers and run up the small ones usually about the ist of October, 

 and spawn, as I have said, about the i5th of October. A little 



FIG. 192. 2.\ Ibs. Loch Leven. 

 25th July 1906. 



