NORTHERN INLAND FISHES. 293 



sides deepening to yellow, with vertical brown stripes on its sides ; 

 fins light yellow. 



THE SALMONID^. 



Common Speckled Trout, or Brook Trout. — Salmo fontinalis . — Mitch. 



Symmetrical oblong body ; back broad, with dark markings on 

 horn-colored ground, with metallic bluish and greenish reflections 

 in fresh specimens ; sides lighter, merging into white on abdomen 

 which shows reddish in spawning season. Upper part of head dark 

 greenish brown, with somewhat obscure mottlings ; red vermillion 

 dots and large yellow spots in vicinity of lateral line. The pec- 

 toral or breast fins have the first ray yellow or the second black, 

 the rest orange. The caudal or tail fin is slightly forked in the 

 adult, more so in the young, is reddish with parallel dark bands. 



The range of this well known and much valued fish, is 

 strictly between the parallels of latitude 50° north and 36° south, 

 though it has been taken in abundance in Labrador, in latitude 

 54", and in the Apalachian mountain ranges as far south as the 

 northern border of Georgia and South Carolina. Its northwestern 

 limit is northern Minnesota, and it is not caught west of the Mis- 

 sissippi River except in a few of its Minnesota tributaries. Speci- 

 mens have been taken that weighed seventeen pounds. The lar- 

 gest are found in Maine and in the Nepigon River, on the north 

 shore of Lake Superior, where the specimen referred to was 

 caught. It inhabits large lakes and the smallest ponds, the -tiniest 

 brooks and the largest rivers. [ Vide Nepigon, which has a length 

 of forty-five miles and a depth, in places, of one hundred and 

 fifty feet or more.] Although a bold biter, it is a wary fish, and 

 often requires much skill to capture it. It can be caught with ar- 

 tificial or natural flies, minnows, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs, the 

 spawn of other fishes, or even the eyes or cut pieces of other trout. 

 It spawns in the fall, and its period of spawning ranges from Sep- 

 tember to late in November. It begins to reproduce its kind when 

 it is two years old, at which age it measures some six inches in 

 length. In May and June the trout delight in rapids and swiftly 

 running water, and in the hot months of mid-summer they resort 

 to deep, cool and shaded pools. In August and September, on 

 the approach of the spawning season, they gather around the 



