THE AMERICAN GRAYLING. 



BY F. H. THURSTON ("KELPIE"). 



"Thegraylynge, by a nother name callyd ombre, is a delycyous fyffhe to manys 

 mouthe. And ye maye take hym lyke as ye doo the troughte * * * And yf ye 

 fe ony tyme of the daye the troughte or graylynge lepe, angle to hym wyth a dubbe* 

 acordynge to the fame moneth." Davie Juliana Berners. 



THE very peculiar history of "The rise and fall of the Gray- 

 ling," as it has not inaptly been termed by Mr. W. David 

 Tomlin, has already been written by so many famous ang- 

 lers and facile pens, that it seems to me almost a work of super- 

 erogation to attempt a new one in my own words. 



For much of the technical and historical portions of this 

 paper, I have freely drawn upon the writings of others sci- 

 entists and anglers. Where practicable, I have given the 

 proper credit, but I may here say that I am largely indebted 

 to the works of Professor G. Brown Goode, to the "Forest 

 and Stream," and to the "American Angler." 



The following technical description is taken from Goode's 

 "American Fishes." 



"Two species of the genus Thymallus occur in North 

 America, one, the Arctic Grayling, T. signifer, the other the 

 Michigan Grayling, T. tricolor, the diagnostic characters of 

 which are thus defined by Bean: 



SPECIES OF GRAYLING. 



A. Gill-rakers 22, pyloric cceca 19, maxilla one-third head; 

 mandible equal to anal base; eye nearly equal to interorbital 



* Fly 345 



