THE HABITS OF THE TROUT 



Perhaps it is from hygienic reasons, or it may be that 

 our brook beauty enjoys a romp nov/ and then just for 

 the " fun of the thing." In nine cases out of ten, how- 

 ever, when these fish are rollicking, as it were, they 

 will be found feeding on minute winged insects that 

 are floating in the air from two to six inches above the 

 surface of the pool, as the newly born mosquito is apt 

 to do, or fontinalis may be pleasing his palate by a 

 feast on the no-see-ums, which the angler can feel to 

 his discomfort but cannot see. 



At night we have seldom found trout feeding in the 

 rapids ; in the daytime they will be frequently found 

 there, even when the water is shallow and the sun's 

 rays are reflected from every pebble on the bottom of 

 the stream. This practice of feeding in rapid water 

 is exceptional among the so-called game fishes of our 

 inland streams. The black-bass lies occasionally in 

 the eddies at the side of rapids, but seldom, if ever, 

 ventures into the current except, perhaps, for a dash at 

 a victim, and then a quick return to the relatively quiet 

 eddy. The perches and the sunfishes, which include 

 all species of fresh-water basses, are never found in 

 rapids, and the modest chub, ubiquitous as he is, only 

 seeks strong waters to escape the ravenous jaws of the 

 black-bass, impelled to do so by his reasoning instinct 

 that the black-bass does not enter such waters to feed. 

 So we must assign to the trout the quality of muscular 

 activity and vigor of search for food in turbulent wa- 

 ters beyond that possessed by any other fresh-water 



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