THE SMELX 4ot) 



is the ehief month of spawning. About the <end of September they 

 quit the deep water, to which they had retired during the hot weather 

 and make great efforts to gain the course <sf the -currents, and seek out 

 a proper place for depositing their ova. This is always done on a 

 gravelly bottom, or where gravel and tsaiad are mixed among stones, 

 near the end or sides of streams. At this period they fturm black about 

 the head and body, aad become soft and uawkolesonae. They are 

 never good when they are full of roe-: which is coatrary to the naiune 

 of most other fish. A&er having -spawned they become feeble, their 



bodies are wasted, and those beau- 

 tiful spots, which before adornel 

 them, are imperceptible. Theic 

 heads appear swelled, and their 

 eyes are dull. In this state they 

 seek still waters, aad continue there 

 sick, as ft is supposed, all the 



COMMON TROUT. . ~] t r ' 



winter. There are in all Trorat- 



rivers some barren female fish, which oontiaue good through tha 

 winter. 



la March, or sometimes earlier, if the we.tfcher foe mild, the Trout-s 

 foegira to leave their winter quarters, and approach the shallows -or tails 

 of streams, where they cleanse and restore themselves. As they 

 acquire strength they advance still higher up the rivers, till they fix 

 n their summer residence, for whieh tfoey generally choose an eddy 

 ^behind a stone, a log, or bank, that projects into the water, and against 

 which t%e current drives. They also frequently get into holes under 

 roots of trees, r into deeps that are shaded foy boughs and bash-es. 



These fish are said to be in season from Mar^Ja Xo .September. 



THE SM"ELT. 



lt is |*eoerally ^considered that the snaetl -6ff 'this legant fHifle 



somewhat resemblee 

 that of -ericmber 

 n-ewly c^t. From its 

 very peculiar soent, so 

 unlike th-at -of any 

 other species of fi^k 

 we give to H the do 



of Smelt, or " smell it." T% Oerraans -eall it Stmckfisch* 

 The best season for these fish, is from December to May, when they 

 approach the shores, and eveaa ascend the rivers i<n immense shoals. 

 Their usual season of spawning is about the months of March and 

 April. In certain rivers, Smelts appear a loag time before they spawn, 

 and in others it has been remarked that they do not at all appea* , so 

 long as there is any snow-water floating -dow-n. After they have de- 

 posited their ova, they return to the sea, and they are not again found 

 ia the rivers until the ensuing season. In the Thames thejare-caughl 

 a) jgreat numbers from November to .January. 



