10 TROUT. 



The back or dorsal fin is very large, and is regularly 

 spotted or waved with dark brown, standing erect, like 

 that of the perch. The head is small and pointed, flat- 

 tened at the top. The irides are of a golden yellow, and 

 the pupil blue. The teeth are small, incurved, and nu- 

 merous, but there are none on the tongue. The general 

 colour of the body is a light yellow-brown, beautifully 

 varied with golden, copper, green, and blue reflections, 

 when viewed in different lights, with a few decided 

 dark spots. The head is brown, and all the fins are 

 somewhat darker than the body. The fish appears to 

 become darker by age, and the pectoral fins are reddish 

 about spawning time, with small black spots. 



The grayling, though abundant in some streams, is 

 not found in many others, although they may abound 

 with trout. It thrives best in rivers with rocky or 

 gravelly bottoms, and seems to require an alternation 

 of stream and pool. The spawning season is in April 

 or the beginning of May, differing in this respect from 

 the other Salmonidce, which spawn towards the end of 

 the year, in cold weather. The grayling is gregarious; 

 more so than the trout, and less so than the perch. 



The grayling is in the finest condition in October and 

 November, and the flavour of some of them is equal to 

 that of trout of the same size. But to be eaten in 

 perfection, it cannot be cooked too soon after it is out 

 of the water. 



SECT. III. THE TROUT. 

 Salmo Fario. 



THE " timorous trout" is a fish highly valued, not less 

 for its agreeableness as an article of food, than for the 

 sport it affords the angler. It is very handsome, both 



