140 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



slip off the leaf into the water and down the gullet 

 of a pike or a trout. Two or three will thus dis- 

 appear at a time, if they are huddled up together 

 when the rush comes from below. I have seen the 

 fish go through this kind of performance over and 

 over again. Trout are as voracious as pike, only 

 more dashing, in their movements. As to the eels, 

 they are very fine in the waters that have just been 

 mentioned. They are silver-bellied, sharp-nosed 

 eels, not the frog-mouthed ones, and they have a 

 great weakness for young birds ; the worst of it is, 

 too, that they can leave the stream that runs through 

 the quake, and travel through it to pick up any 

 chicks that come in their way. In the season, one 

 of the most deadly baits for an eel is a young bird 

 of any kind, a young sparrow being particularly 

 attractive. 



A large trout is a very cautious customer. A 

 friend of mine tried for one that had its hover in a 

 hole formed by the wash of water at the base of a 

 very old sluice wall. He had tried him all ways, 

 so far as he knew, when I recommended a frog, and 

 told him how to fix him without hooking, so that he 

 should not be hurt in the least. My friend did so, 

 letting him go by that hole until he got perfectly 

 disgusted with his want of success. He released the 

 frog and threw him into the water. Down went 

 Froggie, striking out bravely until he got to the hole, 

 and then his striking out came to an abrupt end, 

 for that very same trout had him with a rush. The 

 man never tried for that trout again. 



