APPENDIX 157 



It will be noticed from a study of the table that 

 " blacktails " are recaptured both as whitling and as 

 bull-trout, but that fish marked as representatives of 

 either of these latter stages are in each case recaptured 

 as whitling and bull-trout respectively. That is to say, 

 so far as the table shows, a whitling does not become a 

 bull-trout, even, as in the case of the first fish men- 

 tioned on the list, after an interval of about a year and 

 ten months. The fish referred to seems, on recapture, 

 to have weighed 2 J lb., and may therefore be more 

 correctly described as a sea trout. We may perhaps 

 fairly infer from this result of marking " blacktails " 

 that the young stages of the bull-trout and of the 

 whitling were indistinguishable to the observer who 

 conducted the marking, or are practically indis- 

 tinguishable. 



Another fish worthy of special remark is the last on 

 the list, a grilse which on being captured after an 

 interval of six months is still described as a grilse, and 

 has gained 4| lb. in weight. From the date of mark- 

 ing we may infer that the fish was a kelt, and that we 

 are dealing with a minimum fresh water weight as 

 contrasted with a weight after feeding. 

 1873. The Tweed Committee conducted further marking observa- 

 tions. The results, published as a special report in 

 1875, deal almost exclusively with "blacktails" re- 

 captured as blacktails and whitling. The only excep- 

 tions are two grilse recaptured as grilse kelts before 

 leaving the river. 



