SALMON FLIES 5 



them there. If this is not prima Jade evidence 

 that they are feeding on them, and on this count 

 the grand jury of scientists throw out the bill, 

 there is little chance of getting a conviction 

 against salmo solar for "feeding in fresh water," 

 however guilty he may be. That salmon are 

 rarely caught with anything in their stomachs 

 is quite true. It may be, however, that it is only 

 the hungry fish which takes a fly or a bait, and 

 whose stomach is empty; or that his power of 

 ejecting food is so great, that he disgorges every- 

 thing in the struggle to free himself. 



Well then, why does he take a fly? Is it 

 from curiosity ? To a certain extent it may be, 

 but to prove this is impossible ; while the fact 

 of catching him with natural baits which he is 

 attempting to swallow, is conclusive evidence 

 that he does feed in Jresh water, to a certain 

 extent at any rate. Those who have watched 

 trout feeding, know that they examine almost 

 everything they see floating past them, often 

 taking and ejecting things, which from their 

 smell and texture, they discover are not food. 



A salmon then, with his predatory instinct, 

 may take a salmon fly, because it arouses his 

 curiosity as something strange to him, or, as bear- 

 ing a resemblance to some marine creature he 

 has been accustomed to feed on while in the sea, 

 and conveying to his remembrance the luscious 



