42 AN ANGLER'S SEASON 



accepting the attentions of any male that 

 offers himself; but the males are not in- 

 different. They have predilections. As 

 far as you can make out, the large ones 

 always desire to mate with the largest of 

 the females ; but, unfortunately, the smaller 

 ones have the same ambition. Con- 

 sequently, a trout-stream in autumn is the 

 theatre of a great many unseemly battles. 

 On almost any shallow you will see a fish 

 furrowing the gravel with its fins. That 

 is the female, making a nest. Very close 

 to her, perhaps alongside, perhaps just 

 behind, is another fish, approximately 

 of the same size, but probably larger. 

 That is a male, intending to be the 

 father of the prospective family. Now 

 and then, from one side or the other, a 

 trout comes over, anxious to supplant 

 him ; and either, as is usually the case, 

 the intruder, being comparatively small, 

 is attacked and defeated, or the intruder 

 is heavier and more vigorous, and the 

 mating pair are violently divorced. As 

 a rule, alike in spring and summer and at 



