36 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



fish are authoritative and whom I have quoted above in 



connection with the brown trout, says: 



Coloration "There are one species and five subspec- 



-. . , ies of the rainbows, the typical form being 



Kainbow. 



known as the rainbow or Coast Range 



trout (Salmo irideus, specific name from the Latin, 'a 

 rainbow'). It is a large, robust, short, and deep fish, 

 growing to a weight of thirteen pounds in the William- 

 son River, and up to thirty pounds when sea-run. The 

 head is short, somewhat convex, and 'obtusely ridged 

 above'; mouth slightly smaller than in other trout, and 

 the eyes are somewhat larger ; the teeth on the roof of 

 the mouth are in two irregular series; the tail fin is 

 slightly forked, the body, sides, and ventral fins irregu- 

 larly but profusely marked with black spots, those on 

 the tail being smaller than those on the body and on 

 other fins. 



"The coloration is bluish above and whitish on the 

 sides, which also, in both sexes, have a broad lateral 

 band with reddish blotches, the sea-run specimens being 

 plain silvery. If an angler chances to catch a rainbow 

 in Eastern waters, it will probably be where the East- 

 ern brook trout is also found, and the ' red-sides' can eas- 

 ily be distinguished from it by the lateral band, more or 

 less reddish, always on the sides of both sexes, and by 

 the presence of numerous black irregular spots located 

 on the body, head, and fins; those on the caudal fin 

 being somewhat smaller than the spots elsewhere. The 

 brook trout (fontinalis) has red spots; the rainbows do 

 not have them." 



