HABITS OF THE GRAYLING. 183 



ova in the tails of sharp streams, and the 

 males, rubbing against her, shed upon the 

 ova the melt or seminal fluid. I do not 

 know how long a time is required for the 

 exclusion of the young ones ; but in the end 

 of July, or beginning of August, they are of 

 the size of sprats, four or five inches long, 

 and already sport merrily at a fly. Though 

 I have often taken grayling in bad season, 

 yet I never observed upon them the same 

 kind of leech, or louse, which is so often 

 found upon the trout ; from which I conclude 

 that they seldom or never hide themselves, 

 or become torpid in the mud. The grayling 

 hatched, I conclude, in May or June, become 

 the same year, in September or October, 

 nine or ten inches long, and weigh from half 

 a pound to ten ounces; and the year after 

 they are from twelve to fifteen inches long, 

 and weigh from three-quarters to a pound ; 

 and these two sizes, as you have seen, are 

 the fish that most usually rise at the fly. 

 The first size in this river is called shote, 

 which is a Celtic word, I believe, applied 

 likewise in the west of England to small 



