CHAPTEE II. 



FRESH-WATER TROUT. 



HE Salmo fario, or common trout, is 

 indigenous to almost every river, 

 burn, and loch in Scotland. When 

 in good condition no tenant of the 

 stream surpasses it in beauty of appear- 

 ance. The head is small and well-shaped, 

 the back finely curved, and the sides are 

 thickly studded with starlike spots of a 

 variety of colours, from bright red to dark brown. 

 It is singular that it is a most unusual occurrence 

 to find two trouts spotted exactly alike, there 

 being generally some difference, however slight. 

 Why it is so is beyond elucidation probably for 

 the same reason that no two human beings are 

 the same in form and face. 



The trout of one stream can sometimes be dis- 

 tinguished from those of another ; but this is more 

 by the complexion and shape, than by any arrange- 

 ment of the spots ; and these are well known to be 

 entirely the result of feeding, and of the distinctive 



