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GRAYLING. 



Grayling; and even of flies, after which both are eager, the 

 Trout pursues the larger kinds, while those sought for by the 

 Grayling are of the very smallest, and a grasshopper is pre- 

 ferred to all besides. It swallows earth also, with mud and 

 sand, together with the smaller shells; and as in some rivers 

 there have been found grains of gold mingled with the sand, 

 and such have been found in its stomach, it has been said 

 that these particles of metal were selected by choice, and to 

 them the fish was indebted for the brilliant yellow which 

 sometimes adorns its body and fins. The station which this 

 fish assumes while waiting for prey is usually about mid-water; 

 or if nearer the bottom, not close to it, and not far from a 

 rock or stone; and from such places it more readily rises than 

 goes down, but it returns to the same resort when success 

 has crowned the excursion: and here again we find a contrast 

 to the habits of the Trout, for while the latter is watchful, 

 rapid, and wary in its actions as it deals with temptations, 

 the Grayling, 



Unabashed, will dare, 

 Baulked e'er so oft, the disappointing snare, 

 Simple and bold: 



and hence it is that to the angler 



The Grayling yields no fame; too easy prey 

 He turns his side of gold-bespangled grey. 



Anglers, a. Poem. 



In its own sphere, however, the Grayling is capable of very 

 swift motion, as is represented by Ausonius in its ancient name 

 of Umbra: — 



Effugiens oculos celeri levis Umbra natatu. 



The smooth-sealed Umbra as it passes by, 

 Flits as a shadow o'er the gazer's eye. 



Continuing the comparison of this fish with the Trout, Sir 

 Humphrey Davy remarks that the latter in all its habits of 

 migration runs upward, seeking the fresh and cool waters of 

 mountain sources to spawn in; the Grayling, he believes, has 

 never the same habit of running up the stream. He never 

 saw one leaping at a fall, where Trout are so often seen; and 



