86 THE SEA-TROUT 



the autumn they will have obtained a length of two or three inches. 

 As the temperature of the water falls and food grows scarce they retire, 

 like Caesar, into winter quarters, and, seeking a safe shelter below some 

 stone, they practically hibernate until the following spring when they 

 again emerge for another active summer of fresh-water sojourn. With 

 numerous opportunities for observation, I have never seen the young 

 sea-trout " feeding " in a stream in mid-winter, but I have disturbed 

 them under the ice of a frozen river. 



Mr. Malloch has happily described this habit of the parr of salmon, 

 and I take it that the habits of the young sea-trout, at least of such of 

 them as have not sought sanctuary in a loch, are not materially different. 

 " Very little feeding," Mr. Malloch writes, " takes place after the end 

 of September, and when the cold weather sets in, the parr leave the 

 shallow water to take up their abode under stones, where they remain 

 till March or April, and almost entirely cease to feed. During their 

 stay in winter quarters they become very black and fall off in condition. 

 Often, when collecting larvae, I have lifted a flat stone quietly and 

 disclosed to view three or four parr. These did not swim away at first, 

 but remained motionless for some time, apparently in a dazed, sleepy 

 condition. When the water becomes warmer their winter abode is 

 forsaken for the quieter pools." Mr. Malloch adds a curious statement 

 difficult, one would think, to substantiate. " Strange to say," he writes, 

 " they are now smaller than they were during the autumn." I think it 

 is possible that, taking into consideration the wide distribution of 

 salmon and sea-trout in our islands, Mr. Malloch's periods of feeding 

 may be somewhat over-definitely stated. In southern rivers, at any 

 rate, with warm weather and in low water, salmon parr may be observed 

 feeding freely during the first half of October and possibly earlier than 

 even March. I fancy that young sea-trout in this respect approximate 

 most closely to trout, which feed more or less freely as weather 

 conditions give them the opportunity, and that it is only during the 



