THE SALMON FAMILY 87 



the back and the tail fin are dark green, while the other 

 fins are red, lined round with a clear white border. 



Char are a gregarious fish and swim in shoals, and 

 in the autumn, when they come on to the shallows to 

 spawn, are netted in immense quantities to appear on 

 the table as " potted char." 



The brook trout of America (Salvelinus fontinalis) 

 is a char, a splendid sporting fish that takes the place 

 of the brown trout in our country. Attempts have been 

 made to introduce the brook trout into England, with 

 a certain amount of success in a few deep lakes and 

 ponds. 



At the beginning of this chapter, I briefly referred 

 to the white fishes of America, which are an extremely 

 interesting group of the salmon family. The artificial 

 cultivation of these fishes is probably more extensive 

 than of any other fishes in the world. 



When watching the members of the salmon family 

 from above the water, most of us will have appreciated 

 the fact that the male fish at the breeding season becomes 

 excessively pugnacious, but I never realised to what 

 extent this pugnacity was developed until I observed the 

 mating of rainbow trout in the observation pond. 



Two male and four female rainbows were turned into 

 this pond amongst various other fishes. The rainbows 

 came a long journey by train, but within two days of 

 being turned into the pond the males were fighting 

 furiously. After the first few battles one of the fish was 

 master of the situation, and the other recognising his 



