857 



silver^' oolouv proNailerl on the sides of the liody, while 

 in the otiier, where their diet consisted of eriislied 

 seaiio])s (I'ecfeii), the ground-colour was orange, not 

 unlike that of an (Jriiiff from Bohuslan figured by v. 

 \^''l!Iclll•^ (i'late XL, tig. 3). One of these Trout varie- 

 ties, the darkest and most thickly covered with l)]ack 

 s])ots, sometimes spotted with black even on the pale 

 ventral side, but often — where it has attained a suffi- 

 cient size — without red spots, has been named by 

 Jai!1)ink SdJnio ferox. The same variet\- is ct)nimonly 

 the largest fresh-water Trout in Scandinavia, and the 

 males are furnished during the spawning-season with 

 a hook almost as large as in old males of the true 

 Salmon. 



The Salmon in all its stages of growth is a pre- 

 datory tish of great voracity. Where it ro\es in the 

 sea — as along the greater part of the ■west coast of 

 Europe, in the White Sea, and in the Baltic — it lives 

 on all kinds of animals, principally crustaceans (shrimps), 

 Herrings (Baltic Herring) and Sand-Eels. To the last 

 it seems to be especially partial, and in quest of them 

 it resorts in large shoals to the sandy shallows off the 

 coasts of Scania and Pomerania. In these waters a 

 seine-fishery has been instituted, the seine being shot 

 in the sea, we may almost say, at hazard, and drawn 

 ashore freipieiith' with a good haul of Salmon. Tliis 

 fishery is carried on during spring, in I\larch, April, 

 and ^lay. Another fishery, based on the well-known 

 voracity of the Salmon, is pursued, as mentioned above, 

 with long-lines (Salmon-lines) in the south of the Bal- 

 tic by Swedish, German, and Danish fishermen". During 

 the roving excursions of the Salmon in the south of 

 the Baltic at the season specified above, drift-nets are 

 also used. As the spring advances, however, and the 

 North Baltic with the Gulf of Bothnia becomes open, 

 the marine Salmon begin their journey thither. They 

 are taken here and there on the way' with gill-nets 

 and long-lines, at least up to the island-belt of Stock- 

 holm. Farther north thev come to the shoi'e-traps 

 (so-called stake-nets and mockor), to which have been 

 added in recent times the so-called Finnish stor-ryssjor, 

 where many of the Salmon making for the rivers meet 

 their fate. In the rivers the marine Salmon eats hardly 

 any food, at all events after it has been there some 



time, (hough the eagerness with which it takes the 

 fly-fisher's bait in th(> lower courses of the Scandina- 

 vian rivers, shows that it has not j'et laid aside its 

 voi'acity. Different are the habits of the River Trout 

 an<l the large Salmon of the lakes. Hardly any other 

 fish can l)e said to be more voracious or a more greedy 

 eater in proportion to its size. Brehm has described 

 the life of the IJivei- Trout''. "In quickness and dex- 

 terity of movement," he says, "hardly any river fish 

 sur]iasses the Trout. It is probably to be included 

 among the fishes that are nocturnal in their hal)its; 

 all observations indicate, at least, that the Trout does 

 nut display its full activity until evening, and prefers 

 to perform its priiii'i]ial task, the procuring of food, 

 by night. In the daytime they mostly take shelter 

 under projecting stones in the bank or in any hollow 

 or cranny of the rocks to be found in the wafer which 

 they inhabit. But when everj'thing around them is 

 perfectly still, they move about in the open even by 

 day, always \\ith the head pointing up the stream. 

 Here they either remain apparently motionless at the 

 same spot for a (piarter of an hour or more, though 

 their fins really move with sufficient i-apidity to coun- 

 teract the current, or dart like arrows through the 

 Avater, following the main channel with surprising 

 adroitness, and in this manner finding their way along 

 shallow brooks, where you would think it impossible 

 for them to advance. When disturbed, they retreat, 

 if possible, to some hiding-place, for they are among 

 the most timid and cautious of all fishes. Streams 

 with a swift current they descend by two different 

 devices, either by turning their heads up the river and 

 letting themselves slowly drift with the stream, or bj- 

 summoning up all their powers and shooting so rapidly 

 through the wafer as far to exceed the rate of the 

 current. While the Trout is at rest, it carefully sur- 

 veys its preserves, the water beside and before it and 

 the surface or the air over its head. If an insect, 

 whether great or small, approaches the post occupied 

 by the Trout, if keeps anxious watch until the insect 

 has come within reach, and then, with a powerful 

 blow or two of the caudal fin, rushes upon its victim, 

 or leaps out of the water to .secure its prey. While 

 the Trout is younir, it feeds mostly on insects, worms. 



" See Bexecke, Fische, Fischerei itnd Fisrhzncht in Ost- nnd Westpreusscn. p. 401, and Lu.ndbeko, Meddelanden rorande Sveriges 

 Fiskerier, l:sta haftet, p. 78, tab., fig. 18. 



' Thierleben, Grosse Ausg., Abth. Ill, Bd. II, p. 227; De kallblodiga ryggradsdjurens lif (Sw. transl. 2nd ed.), p. 358. 



