18 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



probably the means of attracting fish towards 

 them. I will also illustrate the value of " flash " 

 in all our fishing lures, such as spoons, salmon- 

 flies, and wet trout flies. 



A reference to the frontispiece will show how 

 perfectly the pigmented brown trout reflects its 

 surroundings. 



I now show the same brown trout feeding, 

 and it will be seen to what extent this fish flashes 

 as it turns to pick up a worm. 



This trout had a stance opposite the 

 "window" of an observation chamber, and 

 here he would hang motionless, except for an 

 almost imperceptible movement of the paired 

 fins and an occasional lateral swish of the tail to 

 keep him up in the stream. Earthworms were 

 dropped into the water above this fish, and as 

 they were carried down to him he turned and 

 picked them up, with the resulting "flash" 

 shown in the lower photograph. 



As a boy, during the hot, dry summer 

 holidays, I frequently fished the running worm 

 in Scottish rivers and Highland burns. It used 

 to strike me then how difficult it was to see the 

 trout even in the clear low water. I did not 

 appreciate the value of counter-shading, reflec- 



