172 THE TROUT 



Buckland mentions a case in which trout were 

 seen in the act of devouring the eggs, ' with their 

 noses grubbing in the nests and their tails projecting 

 out of the water like so many sharks' fins out at sea.' 

 Ducks, geese, swans, moorhens, dabchicks, and 

 many other kinds of feathered fowl delight to gorge 

 themselves with the contents of the spawning-beds. 

 Eels, roach, dace, chub, and other coarse fish attend 

 in great numbers on the spawning trout and regard 

 their eggs as a dainty dish. Freshwater shrimps are 

 very destructive to trout eggs. So too are the larvae 

 of the Mayfly, the dragon-fly and many other watei 

 insects. 



You will now have no difficulty in realising that, 

 of all the useful functions performed by the processes 

 of trout culture, one of the most important is the 

 protection of the eggs under conditions which place 

 them beyond the reach of the many dangers to which 

 in the natural state they are continually exposed. Nor 

 will you find it difficult to credit the statement so often 

 made, that out of every thousand trout eggs deposited 

 naturally, only one ever becomes a mature fish. 



It is a very remarkable fact that during the earliest 

 stage of development viz. within forty-eight hours 

 after having been vitalised the eggs are capable of 

 bearing a considerable amount of disturbance and 



