HABITS, ETC., OF THE GRAYLING. 279 



THE GRAYLING. Salmo Thymalhis. 



THE grayling is one of the most gracefully-shaped 

 and coloured of the salmonidse. It is a favourite 

 fish of mine, takes a fly boldly, but does not show 

 much resisting courage after having taken it and 

 be,en hooked. It is a gamesome fish, but not a 

 6 game ' one. The grayling very rarely exceeds 

 three pounds in weight, and far greater numbers 

 are caught weighing under one pound than more. 

 They are not, like the trout, indigenous to this 

 country ; and very probably, on account of their 

 being in season in the winter, when trout are not, 

 and being an excellent gastronomic substitute for 

 that fish, they were brought from the continent to 

 this country by the monks, or some other good 

 judges of good things, that those gybarites might 

 not be without a fresh-water delicacy during the 

 most festive part of the year. The rivers of the 

 midland counties are more celebrated for grayling 

 than those of any other part of the empire. The 

 grayling is not found in Ireland or Scotland. 



