UMjat is a &ea <Erout 



(UITE recently there was in Forest and Stream 

 a long and bitter controversy on this sub- 

 ject. Some said that there was no such thing as 

 a sea trout. Others claimed that there was, 

 while still others maintained that river and sea 

 trout were one and the same fish, the change in 

 color, etc., being due to the change from fresh to 

 salt water, and so on. Those who read these art- 

 icles can draw their own conclusions. For my 

 part I say we have in our northern rivers two dis- 

 tinct species and will now give my observations on 

 them. When I was residing at Trinity Bay with 

 my father, we often caught bright silvery trout, 

 both in the nets and by angling. Fishermen 

 called them sea trout, others salmon trout. More 

 learned ones said they were hybrids between the 

 salmon and trout. Anyway, the difference was 

 noticed. Many years later, about 1880, I made 

 the acquaintance of an eminent scientist, Dr. C. 

 H. Merriam, now Chief of the Biological De- 

 partment at Washington, D.C. The Doctor was 

 a most ardent lover of nature and as I had some 

 inclinations that way myself, we enjoyed each 

 other's company. During our rambles together 

 we talked of beasts, birds and fishes, and casually 

 I mentioned what was said about the sea trout. He 



