CHAPTEE II. 



FRESH-WATER TROUT. 



V* HE Salmo fario* or common trout, is in- 



_r* 



digenous to almost every river, burn, and 

 loch in Scotland. When in good condition 

 no tenant of the stream surpasses it in 

 beauty of appearance. The head is small 

 and well-shaped, the back finely curved, 

 and the sides are thickly studded with star- 

 like spots of a variety of colours, from bright 

 red to dark brown. It is singular that it is a 

 most unusual occurrence to find two trouts spotted 

 exactly alike, there being generally some difference, 

 however slight. Why it is so is beyond elucidation, 

 probably for the same reason that no two human 

 beings are the same in form and face. 



The trout of one stream can sometimes be dis- 

 tinguished from those of another ; but this is more 

 by the complexion and shape, than by any arrange- 

 ment of the spots ; and these are well known to be 

 entirely the result of feeding, and of the distinctive 

 characteristics of each stream. Trout taken from a 

 dark mossy water are dark and ill-coloured, while 

 those taken from a clear stream are of a correspond- 



