898 FISHES — SALMONID^. 



on the hyoid bone and on the shaft of the vomer distinguish it from the 

 latter. Its scales are much smaller than those of the Atlantic Salmon 

 or of the Quinnat. 



Habits. — It is the favorite game fish of America, pre-eminent in wari- 

 ness, in beauty, and in delicacy of flesh. It inhabits all clear and cold 

 waters within its range, the large lakes and the smallest ponds, the tini- 

 est brooks and the largest rivers,' and when it can do so, without soiling 

 its aristocratic gills on the way, it descends to the sea and grows large 

 and fat on the animals of the ocean. 



Although a bold biter, it is a wary fish, and it often requires much 

 skill to capture it. It can be caught with artificial or natural flies, min- 

 nows, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs, the spawn of other fishes, or even 

 the eyes or cut pieces of other Trout. It spawns in the fall, and its 

 period of spawning ranges from September to late in November. It be- 

 gins to reproduce its kind when it is two years old, at which age, it 

 measures some six inches in length. In May and June Trout de- 

 light in rapids and swiftly running water, and in the hot months of mid- 

 summer, they resort to deep, cool, and shaded pools. In August and 

 September, on the approach of the spawning season, they gather around 

 the mouths of cool, gravelly brooks, whither they resort to make their 

 beds {Hallock). 



It is hardly necessary to enter into a detailed discussion of the habits 

 of the Brook Trout in this paper. Every one of my readers, 



" Bom beneath the fishes' sign 

 Of constellations happiest," 



has his own Trout story to tell, which the next generation may believe 

 or not. 



For, in the words of Myron H. Reed, " This is the last generation of 

 Trout fishers. The children will not be able to find any. Already there 

 are well-trodden paths by every stream in Maine, in New York, and in 

 Michigan. I know of but one river in North America by the side of 

 which you will find no paper collar or other evidence of civilization. It 

 is the Nameless River. 



Not that Trout will cease to be. They will be hatched by machinery 

 and raised in ponds, and fattened on chopped liver, and grow flabby and 

 lose their spots. The Trout of the restaurant will not cease to be. He 

 is no more like the Trout of the wild river than the fat a5d songless 

 Reed Bird is like the Bobolink. Gross feeding and easy pond life ener- 

 Tate and deprave him. 



" The Trout that the children will know only by legend is the gold- 



