ACADIAN FISH AND FISHING. 215 



the sea and impassable falls, the American trout is found 

 to most perfection and in greatest number in lakes which 

 communicate with the sea, and allow him to indulge 

 in his well ascertained predilection for salt, or rather 

 brackish tidal-water. A favourite spot is the ddbouchure 

 of a lake, where the narrowing water gradually acquires 

 velocity of current, and where the trout lie in skulls and 

 give the greatest sport to the fly-fisher. 



In a recent notice of S. Fontinalis from the pen of an 

 observant sportsman and naturalist appearing in " Land 

 and Water," this fish is surmised to be a char. Its claim 

 to be a member of the Salveline group is favoured by 

 reference to its similar habits in visiting the tidal por- 

 tions of rivers on the part of the char of Norway and 

 Sweden, its similar deep red colouring on the belly, 

 and general resemblance. I am quite of " Ubique's '' 

 opinion touching this point, and think the common 

 name of the American fish should be char. Indeed, 

 I find the New York char is one of the names it 

 already bears in an American sporting work, though no 

 comparison is made. Besides its sea-going propensities, 

 its preferring dark, still waters, to gravelly shallow 

 streams, and its resplendent colours when in season, a 

 most important point of resemblance to the char would 

 seem to be the minuteness of its scales. 



The American trout spawns in October and November 

 in shallow water, and on gravel, sand, or mud, ac- 

 cording to the nature of the soil at the bottom of his 

 domains. 



In fishing for trout through the ice in winter to add 

 to our camp fare, I have taken them at the " run in " to 

 a large lake, the females full of spawn apparently ready 



