64 TROUT AND GRAYLING. 
taken. I have caught trout within a few yards of one another, one 
from an open part of the stream, with most brilliant colours, and 
another from under an old tree root in the water, that was very 
nearly black when he was landed. 
There are several kinds of fresh water trout known to fishermen 
and naturalists, and the best known form is Sa/mo fario, or 
common brown trout, which is found in nearly all the brooks and 
small rivers in the United Kingdom, and is the trout best known 
to us about here. It is very plentiful in many parts of the river 
Dove, and there are good numbers of it in some of the brooks 
close by, notably in Egginton brook, Bretby brook, Drakelow 
brook, and in the river Blythe. The next best known form is 
the Salmo levenensis, or Loch Leven trout, which takes its name 
from Loch Leven in Kinross-shire, which is situated about half 
way between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay. This fish is 
somewhat slighter in form than the ordinary brown trout, and has 
the body longer in proportion to its thickness, and is usually found 
without any red spots upon it. Its colour is silvery, and the spots 
on its sides are nearly black, and often shaped in the form of a X. 
By many eminent naturalists this fish is supposed to be quite a 
distinct species from any other form of trout ; and these people 
also think that the other forms, such as the Ferox, or great lake 
trout, the Gz//aroo, which is a trout that only inhabits certain 
lochs in Ireland, such as Lochs Corrib, Derg, and Melvin, and 
which might appropriately be termed the gizzard trout, on account 
of the remarkable thickness of the walls of its stomach, are all 
distinct species. In addition to these, there are, of course, the 
sea trout—trout which live in the sea like salmon, and run up the 
rivers to deposit their spawn. There are several forms of these, 
and they, too, are by many looked upon as distinct species. 
But Dr. Francis Day, who died a short time ago, and who was 
looked up to as one of the greatest of all authorities on matters 
pertaining to fish life, and more particularly as to the Sa/monide, is 
quite inclined to think that all forms of trout are in reality of the 
same species, and that the different varieties are due to local 
circumstances, such as the water they live in and the food they 
