rHE 



GRAYLING OF MONTANA 



TO my mind there is no more beautiful 

 fish than our American grayling. Its 

 shape is finer in proportions than the 

 trout. Its color is of a silver gray, 

 fins of an olive-brown tint ; the pectoral fins near the 

 ends shade into a blue hazing. The distinctive 

 characteristic is the wonderful and peculiar dorsal 

 fin, dotted with reddish and orange spots, and about 

 these greenish-like tints, or those of the rose. 

 This particular fin is approximately about one- 

 fourth the length of the body, and its apparent use, 

 assisted by the pectoral fins, is to aid the fish in 

 rapid risings or descendings. 



The spots on the body appear almost black, but 

 in the direct rays of the sun are found to be of 

 deeper shades and richer coloring. 



The grayling belongs to the family Thymalidce, 

 and is the only genus of the family. The scales 

 are fairly large. The first fish were found amid 

 the Arctic waters, and, from descriptions, I judge, 

 were rather more marked in brilliant coloring. 



VOL. 1. — 19 289 



