342 THE ANGLER-NATURALIST. 



of clearness, the Red and Orange-coloured division of the 

 genus Salmo (Salmon and Trouts proper), are exclusively a 

 lake species, never migrating to the sea, and seldom ascend- 

 ing streams unless for the purpose of spawning. They are 

 rarely known to take the fly or other bait ; and the interest 

 which they possess, as amongst the least-known and most 

 beautiful of our fishes, is consequently rather for the natu- 

 ralist than the angler. As a Division or Group they may 

 at once be distinguished from the two other sections of 

 the same genus by the brilliant tints of the belly, which 

 increase in vividness as the spawning-season approaches, 

 and by the comparatively very minute size of their scales. 



Our knowledge of the different species of the British 

 Charrs has been until lately in a very unsatisfactory state, 

 principally owing to the constant attempts on the part of 

 naturalists to identify our species with those of the Conti- 

 nent, and more particularly with the " Ombre Chevalier," 

 the Charr of the Lake of Geneva. The consequence has 

 been a vast amount of misapprehension and a general con- 

 fusion of names and synonyms, which, added to the great 

 difficulty of procuring specimens for examination, has 

 hitherto prevented anything like a reliable classification 

 being arrived at. 



Thanks, however, to the researches of Dr. Albert Giin- 

 ther, Custodian of the fish at the British Museum, we are 

 now, we may hope, at the commencement of a new era in 

 this respect. Dr. Giinther has enjoyed unequalled advan- 



