176 REMARKS ON WORMS 



sand. They are what are commonly called water- 

 worms , but they are constructed like earth worms, 

 and a novice would not know them from these. 

 There are two kinds in the rivers ; one very black- 

 headed, dark on the back, reddish on the sides, and 

 flattish : this is the largest of the two, and may be 

 found from two to six inches long. The other is 

 dark-headed, and inclined to yellow, and sometimes 

 green, and ringed in the body. 



Many anglers and authors think that the worms 

 by which trout s get gorged in a flood are brought into 

 the rivers by flooded drains and the like, whereas 

 they get gorged from their own river-beds ; because 

 the floods generally turn over large numbers of 

 pebbles and thereby dislodge the worms in thous- 

 ands. On examining the worms in a trout's throat 

 or maw, the angler will find that as a rule no 

 other than water-worms are ever lodged there ; and 

 after a flood almost all large trout on being cap- 

 tured show numbers of them, half-mashed and 

 otherwise, in their gullets. 



These worms too, along with numerous small 

 water-grubs (most of which eventually become 

 trout flies), are what cause ducks to gobble and 

 plouter so much about the edges of drains, burns, 

 rivers, and mill-ponds. What else could they cap- 



