414 Forsyth on the Habits 
Each of these varieties is found both in the streams com- 
municating with the salt marshes, and in those which are en- 
tirely cut off from them, by permanent obstructions. The 
first named variety, however, is nowhere found in so great 
perfection as in close approximation to the salt creeks. The 
difference between the salt and fresh water trout, in this vi- 
cinity, seems to be only in name, so far as I have been able 
to determine, with ample opportunities in taking them, and 
with specimens before me. The peculiarity of these varieties 
seems to depend entirely upon the location, and the nature of 
the soil at the bottom of the stream they inhabit. The first 
variety is found in clear water, with light gravelly bottom, and 
where the banks are not shaded by shrubbery, but where they 
are almost constantly exposed to the rays of the sun. The 
second variety inhabits streams which are for the most part 
shaded by trees, or which take their rise in, or pass through, 
peat bogs. Thus, in one stream, the trout caught at the head 
of it were always of a very dark brown, almost black, highly 
marked with yellow and red spots, while those taken near the - 
mouth of the stream were of a light color. One of these 
streams arises from a deep basin of dark water, thirty feet in 
diameter, and ten feet deep, surrounded by a peat bog, where 
the fish taken, so far as I know, have been uniformly of a dark 
brown. In other streams, having a bottom of iron ore, they 
are uniformly marked with orange underneath, the color of 
the upper part and sides appearing to depend upon gd 
amount of exposure to the sun's rays. These observations 
are made independent of any of the changes of color or mark- 
ings which take place during the spawning season. i 
About the first of January these fish are found congrega! 
together at high water mark, and seem to have come down 
the stream for the purpose of locating themselves 10 the 
marshes, where they can obtain food. So uniform are - 
in this, that for a number of years, it was my custom to - 
one particular stream, during this month, and I wu - 
sure to find them assembled in waiting for me, witbin 4 
