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 \ Ib. 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 



