4 OBSERVATIONS 



Haunts. 



To enumerate the rivers, streams, and brooks 

 of this country, which the common Trout in- 

 habits, would be an endless and useless task ; he 

 may be said to frequent almost all of them, and 

 will even sometimes be discovered in a mere 

 ditch (in spawning time), having scarcely depth 

 of water enough to cover the back. 



He delights in rapid clear-running waters, 

 with a rocky or gravelly bottom. An attempt 

 has been made in the annexed plan to point out 

 his favourite haunts, &c. in such waters. They 

 are, 1st. The head and tail of a stream, in other 

 words, the ends of a rapid, as A. 2ndly. The 

 eddies formed by water passing round an obstruc- 

 tion in the current, as B. 3rdly. Such tracks as C, 

 where a chain of bubbles or little floating objects 

 indicate the course of the principal current ; 

 which course is chiefly dependent upon various 

 reflections of the water, from projecting banks, 

 rocks, scours, and shoals, and may often be 

 guessed at, when not sufficiently visible, by attend- 

 ing to the position of the banks, &c. 4thly. At 

 the roots of trees, or in other places where the 

 froth (called in Staffordshire Beggar's Balm) 

 collects. 5thly. In little whirlpools, as Gr, he 

 will often be found during a fresh. He may then 

 be angled for, if the water is much discoloured, 

 with ant- eggs, wasp -grubs, or gentles ; but a few 



