Sea-Trout 131 



the illustration (Fig. 127) was taken was a perfect specimen when 

 I caught it. The yellow-fins, then, which return about the end of 

 June, have only been three months in the sea. At first they are very 

 small, weighing only about a quarter of a pound, but they continue to 

 increase in size up to the end of November, when the largest weigh 

 about I lb. While they remain in fresh water they feed on larvje, 

 flies, worms, etc., the greater number of them, however, prefer 

 the tidal water, and in the Tay very few are caught more than 

 ten miles above this. They remain in the river until the end ot 

 December, when they begin to go down in considerable numbers. 



KiG. 126. — l-]h. Whillini,'. First return hom the sea. July 1900. 



Of course, some may go down somewhat earlier, but from December 

 until the beginning of May they are constantly going down, and, 

 if the weather is warm, they will almost all have disappeared from 

 the river by the ist of May. Their condition greatly depends on 

 whether the winter has been cold- or warm, and, of course, the 

 warmer it is the better condition they are in, as they have more 

 to feed on and are more inclined to feed then. During some 

 seasons they are so thin that they have the appearance of kelts ; 

 but by October and November, if the weather is warm, they are 

 in good condition again, as also in March and April. When the 

 March browns and blue duns appear on the river, the whitling feed 

 ravenously and seldom allow a fly to pass. 



