22 BRITISH SPORTING FISHES. 



The large dorsal fin has a line of red -brown spots, 

 and the sides indistinct lines of dark gray. The 

 grayling has a smell peculiar to itself, likened to 

 that of thyme by some, as resembling cucumber 

 by others. This characteristic is repeated in 

 Tkymallus vulgaris, the technical name of the 

 species. 



Unlike trout, grayling do not thrive in moun- 

 tain streams, but in rivers having a happy com- 

 bination of ripple and pool, with clean, gravelly 

 bottoms. Their favourite haunts are still streams 

 and eddies, rapid shallows, and gravelly basins. 

 At times the fish are fond of lying at the tail of a 

 weed ; and deep water beneath a hollowed bank 

 is a sure "find" when fish are rising freely. 

 When the water is high and discoloured, they 

 are on the edge of the stream, on the look-out 

 for bottom food, but not refusing to rise at a 

 tinselled or highly-coloured fly. The grayling's 

 food consists of flies, larvse, Crustacea, and worms. 

 In spinning for trout in April and May, grayling 

 are occasionally taken with the minnow ; but in 

 this case they probably get hooked in driving a 

 supposed intruder from their spawning ground. 

 At all events it is a question whether a minnow 

 has ever been found inside a grayling. The time 

 of spawning is greatly dependent upon the season, 

 but is usually towards the end of April or early in 



