CHAPTEE II. 



NATURAL CHARACTERS OF THE TROUT. 



Natural Characters of Trout Trout-parr, to distinguish from Salmon- 

 parr Usual Size of Trout Sex of Influence of Food on Signs 

 of Condition, and Varieties of Thoughts on Hybrids Spawning 

 of Hatching and Growth of Fry Age of Centenarian Fish 

 Number of Ova in How Trout spend Christmas Haunts of, in 

 Summer Proceedings of Poachers. 



THE trout is eminently a predatory fish, has a short 

 rounded head, and the palatine and maxillary 

 bones, as well as the tongue, are thickly beset with short, 

 sharp, recurved teeth. The skin is covered with small 

 smooth scales, and divided into two nearly equal por- 

 tions by a straight lateral line on each side running 

 from the gills to the tail. The body is of a very grace- 

 ful shape, full at the shoulders and tapering finely 

 towards the tail. The back is ash-coloured, the sides 

 yellowish-white, and the belly a silvery white, or in 

 some largo fish a golden orange ; while the gill-covers 

 and sides, as far down as the lateral line, are sprinkled 

 over with small brilliant scarlet and black star-shaped 

 spots, which, combined with its handsome shape and 

 harmonious proportions, render the trout one of the 

 prettiest fish of its tribe. 



