THE COMMON TROUT 267 
that takes place, the fish assumes the silvery livery of the sea- 
going species, and can scarcely be distinguished from salmon- 
trout. Usually, however, even in these specimens, there 
remains a tinge of yellow on the flanks, and a greater tendency 
to spots on the sides than there is in the sea fish. 
In contour a well-conditioned trout is nearly as graceful as 
a salmon, but the head is usually more obtuse and the body of 
thicker build. As in migratory salmonoid fish, so in fresh- 
water trout, there is a marked difference in the appearance of 
the sexes after they attain full development. The head of the 
male becomes much larger than that of the female, the lower 
jaw tends to be hooked, owing to the growth of a cartilaginous 
knob on the upper surface of its apex, similar to that of a 
salmon, and there is often a marked tendency to golden tints 
in the male and to silvery in the female. 
Beautiful creatures as trout become in the height of the 
season under the influence of plentiful diet, they undergo a 
melancholy metamorphosis at the approach of the spawning 
season, which ranges, according to locality, from the middle 
of October to the month of January. The iridescence and 
metallic lustre of their skins fade away, sooty darkness spreads 
over the sides and throat, the body becomes slimy and dis- 
agreeable to the touch, and the fairy-like creature of midsummer 
is scarcely to be recognised in the repulsive animal that frequents 
the gravelly shallows at midwinter. Their general spawning 
operations are very similar to those of salmon on a smaller 
scale, with this important difference, that, whereas a salmon 
celebrates his nuptials fasting, trout feed ravenously all the 
time, and of nothing are they fonder than of the ova of 
salmon. After spawning they soon regain a good deal of 
brilliancy, but remain lank and emaciated far into the spring 
months. Small trout, weighing } 1b. and under, in some 
waters are in fairly takable condition in the month of March ; 
but the larger trout of the Hampshire rivers and the Scottish 
and Irish lakes ought not to be angled for before the month 
