i'02 Natural History of the Sea Trout, 



Couch '^ttd :ot.hers ? and this is borne out by the 

 further observations of Dr. Gunther. *' It is cha- 

 racteristic of hybrids that their characters are very 

 variable, the degrees of affinity to one or the other 

 of the Parents being inconstant ; and as these 

 hybrids are known readily to breed with either of 

 the parent race, the variations of form, structure, 

 and colour, are infinite. Of internal organs, the 

 dentition, gill rakers, and pyloric appendages are 

 those particularly affected by such mixture of 

 species." 



The Rev. Mr. Houghton, in his " British Fresh 

 Water Fishes," gives some excellent plates of the 

 Salmo trtitta and its varieties, under the designation 

 of Sewin, Galway trout, Blackfinned trout {S. 

 nigripennis)^ short-headed salmon {S. hrachyopomd)^ 

 silvery salmon {S. argentus) ; but his figure of the 

 Salmo ei'iox^ or bull trout, is totally unlike any bull 

 trout I ever saw, and I have seen a good many. It 

 may be the bull trout of the Coquet after having been 

 in the fresh water for many weeks, and put on the 

 spawning dress, but it is not the bull trout of other 

 rivers. Silvery as the salmon, with a blunt, short 

 head, and covered almost to his ventral fins with 

 dark X spots, I have seen this fish of the weight of 

 twenty-five pounds and upwards. Mr. Houghton 

 says that the principal rivers in Scotland for the 

 sea trout are the Tweed, Spey, Don, and Tay; 



