The Trout. 467 



Trouts are least esteemed when near spawning. They 

 are properly in season in the months of July and August, 

 being then fat and well-tasted. 



The beautiful silvery Trout is the most voracious of 

 fresh-water fish, and will devour every living thing 

 which the water produces even its own spawn in all 

 its stages, and will lie upon the bed or hill, watching to 

 seize its young fry, as they become vivified and rise 

 from under their gravelly birthplace. Neither does he 

 confine himself to any given sort of fish, but luxuriates 

 his rapacious stomach upon all the varieties, from in- 

 stinct occasionally changing his food to larvae, caddis, 

 ephemera, worms, and even the young of the water- 

 snail, all of which act as alteratives. Owing to his 

 large fins and broad tail, his movements are extremely 

 rapid, and, from his muscular power and pliability, he 

 seldom misses his prey. His habits are solitary, being 

 only accompanied by one, and that at some distance 

 from him, in the summer season; and as the autumn 

 approaches, when larvae, &c., are diminishing, he keeps 

 entirely alone until the pairing season returns. The 

 period of spawning differs in various rivers from natural 

 causes, such as snow, cold rains, or inclement weather ; 

 for, as Trout, like salmon, spawn on gravel beds in shal- 

 low water, the cold readily affects them. When they 

 cannot reach the spot prepared for the deposit of their 

 eggs, they frequently abstain from spawning for weeks. 

 The younger Trout generally hill, as it is termed, ear- 

 lier than those of larger growth. They begin to throw 

 up their bed early in December, when the female and 

 male may be seen working together, the former mostly 

 in advance. By constant labour they dig a hollow in 

 the gravel, throwing it up on each side, and at last 

 forming a heap, which is called a hill, or bed. At this 

 period they are very shy and stupid, and even the sha- 

 dow of a cloud will frighten them from their hill, when 

 they retreat into deeper water; but upon finding all 

 quiet they return. This preparation generally occupies 

 two or three weeks ; and frequently the hill is shared 

 both in labour and occupation by several pairs of Trout. 

 Tt often measures many feet in diameter, and is two or 



