HABITS AND HISTORY OF THE BROWN TROUT 



{Sa/um fario) 



To the angler the common yellow trout is by far the most im- 

 portant tish that swims, for more people capture it than any other 

 living thing. The pleasure derived from its capture, too, surpasses 

 that of any other sport, while interest in the study of the trout seems 

 to be inexhaustible. Its shape and colour are so beaLitiful that no 

 artist can reproduce them. Many naturalists maintain that there are 

 different species of trout in the British Islands — Loch Leven trout, 

 Gillaroo trout, tidal trout, and many others ; but from a close study 

 of all these trout for the last forty years, I ha\'e come to the conclusion 

 that there is only one species of trout in Great Britain, and that in 

 the different varieties the differences are caused by the nature ot the 

 water in which they are found and by the food they eat. I therefore 

 hope that what I have to say will help to solve some of the mysteries 

 connected with this wonderful trout. 



The spawning time ot trout depends on the locality, and begins 

 about the 15th of October and continues till March. The spawn is 

 deposited in the gravel, where this is fairly hne, and the time it remains 

 in the gravel depends on the temperature. If the temperature 

 averages 54° it remains thirty-two days ; if 50", forty-seven days ; il 43", 

 eighty-nine days. The fry when hatched come up through the gravel, 

 and like the salmon have a sack attached to their bodies. This 

 sack contains enough nourishment to sustain them for several weeks 

 before they are able to leed. On their beginning to do so they grow so 



rapidly that if they are hatched on the ist of March, and the teeding 



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