THE COMMON TROUT DESCRIBED. 327 



THE COMMON TROUT. Salmo fario. 



THE common trout is unquestionably the hand- 

 somest and most delicately flavoured of our river 

 fish, and, after the salmon, the best game the 

 angler can pursue. It grows large or small, dif- 

 ferently marked, coloured and shaped according 

 to the qualities of the water it inhabits. The 

 Thames trout is often caught as large as the 

 middle-sized salmon, and is superior in flavour. 

 In the small streams of Wales and Scotland the 

 common trout are remarkably small. In the rivers 

 of the midland counties the trout averages a pound 

 in weight, and throughout the trout streams of 

 the empire, more trout are caught under that 

 weight than above it. A common trout in full 

 season, weighing four pounds, is a royal fish ; and 

 a trout caught in the Dove during the drake- 

 season, and weighing from oue pound to two, is a 

 princely one. If you want to see a very handsome 

 dish of trout, you will see it every day of the year 

 at Chatsworth, in Landseer's " Bolton Abbey in 

 the Olden Time." Trout should never be taken b^ 



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