GRAYLING. 81 



However fastidious in the quality of the water or the 

 choice of situation in the stream the Grayling is known to 

 be, experiment has proved that this fish will live in ponds 

 that have been newly made in hard soil, or in such as have 

 been very recently and carefully cleaned out ; but in these 

 situations the Grayling does not breed, and they will not 

 continue to live in old muddy ponds. The ova of this 

 fish are numerous, large, and of a deep orange colour : the 

 spawning season is in April, or the beginning of May ; in this 

 respect differing from the other Salmonidce, most, if not all, 

 of which spawn towards the end of the year, and generally 

 in cold weather. The Grayling, however, is in the finest 

 condition in October and November, when Trout are out of 

 season, not having then recovered the effects of their recent 

 spawning, while the young Grayling of that year are about 

 seven inches in length. 



The food of the Grayling, as ascertained by examination, 

 besides the various flies imitations of which are successfully 

 used by anglers, consists also of the larvse of Phryganea 

 Ephemera and Libellula ; the remains of the cases of the 

 former, and the tough skins of all of them, being frequently 

 found in their stomachs. I have found also several small 

 shells, examples of the genus Physa, and Neritina fluvia- 

 tilis. Dead shells and small pebbles are also found ; but 

 whether these last are taken up by the fish to serve any 

 useful purpose, as in the stomachs of gallinaceous birds, 

 or have only formed part of the cases of the Phryganea^ 

 may be questioned. 



Some English authors have considered the Grayling a 

 migratory fish, passing the winter in the sea, and the sum- 

 mer in fresh water. " Early in spring," says Mr. Donovan, 

 " they ascend the rivers, where they remain till autumn, 



