GRAYLING. 151 



two Colnes, the Windrush, parts of the IMole, the Darent, the Wey, the Brent, and others 

 — for it is not every river which will suit the Grayling; whereas almost any river, if not 

 already overrun with coarse fish, will suit the Trout, if there are any shallows at all for it 

 to spawn on. Grayling- love deep eddies and quiet reaches, but they also like sharp and rapid 

 shallows — a weedy shallow which ends in a deep safe eddy, with a gravelly bottom, and loamy 

 hoUowed-out banks, being the especial abiding-place of Grayling ; and where these alternate 

 with sharp bends full of nooks and corners of refuge, the stream will suit Grayling to ad- 

 miration." — {Book on Angling, p. 299 — 300.) 



The spawning season of the Grayling is different from that of the Salmonidcc generally : 

 for it occurs in April and May ; so that the Grayling is in the best condition about the time 

 when the Trout is in its worst, that is in October and November. Mr. Francis says the Grayling 

 should not be taken till August. At spawning time, and for long after, "the fish is scarcely 

 eatable, and until August is not worth a rush. Cut a Grayling in June and cut one in 

 November, and the difference is most remarkable. Although in June he may be a handsome 

 shaped and bright-looking fish, his play is unusually dull, and his flesh like that of an in- 

 difterent roach, soft, spongy, and flavourless. In November he has a blue bloom on him like 



a rich plum his black spots contrast brilliantly with the dazzling silver of his belly; and 



as for his flesh, it is as hard, firm, and flaky, as a Trout's when in the best condition." Mr. 

 Francis is amusingly angry with any angler who would take Grayling in the early summer 

 months. "Throw him in again, then, brother fisherman, till at least the middle of July be 

 turned. Whereas, if you do take him in May or June, listen to my solemn anathema, and 

 let it lie heavy on your soul. May your rod-top smash at the ferrule, and the brazing stick 

 in tight, at the commencement of your 'crack day of the season,' and may you be unable to 

 beg, buy, borrow, or steal another rod within twenty miles. May you travel hundreds of 

 miles into a strange country, find the river in splendid ply, and then discover that you have 



left your reel at home And now go and catch your Grayling in May and June, and much 



good may they do you. I hope you'll eat 'em, — all of them — that's all; and that your wife 

 will have locked up the brandy, and gone out for a day or two ; and please send for Dr. 

 Francis to administer consolation. Ha ! ho ! I hate a fisherman who slaughters kelts and ill- 

 conditioned fish, more than any other species of poacher going." — (P. 298.) 



The Grayling passes its time entirely in fresh water, and I cannot understand how 

 Donovan, whose figure, bad as it is, shows itself to be this fish, says it is migratory, "passing 

 the winter season in the open sea, and the summer in fresh water." 



The food of the Grayling consists of insects and their larvre, small shell-fish (molluscs), 

 Crustacea, etc. In a specimen I examined I found the stomach full of the Ancyclus fluviatilis. 

 I notice that Sir Humphry Davy states that its stomach "is very thick, not unlike that of 

 a Charr or Gillaroo Trout, and contains flies, gravel, and larvae with their cases." — {Salmonia, 

 p. 183, Murray, 1869.) This is contrary to my experience; for in the Charr and Grayling the 

 walls of the stomach are not abnormally thick. 



The Grayling of the Teme, near Ludlow, have the reputation of being the finest in 

 England. The scenery at Downton Castle, where Sir Humphry Davy wrote his charming 

 Salmonia, and where the river Teme flows, is remarkably beautiful. My own associations here, 

 however, are connected, not with the Grayling of that picturesque stream, but with the various 

 beautiful and curious, and some rare, funguses, found in the neighbourhood. Downton is a 

 favourite "meet" for the Woolhope Natural History Field Club, and many a pleasant day 

 I have had with the members of it. As I have gazed into the Teme, on these fungus 

 expeditions, in October, I have often thought how I should enjoy a day's fly-fishing, and 

 handle the Teme Grayling, in a month in which they are in the primest condition. "Just 

 taken out of the water," says Mr. Pennell, "the Grayling is certainly one of the most beau- 

 tiful fish that can be imagined. At this time, the back is of a deep purple colour, with small 



