Coloration. 57 



Sir Humphrey Davy, in his familiar work, " Salmonia," 



says: 



" I think it possible when trout feed much on hard substances, 

 such as larvse ahd their cases, and the ova of other fish, they have 

 more red spots and redder fins. This is the case with the gillaroo 

 and the char, who feed on analogous substances; and the trout 

 that have similar habits might be expected to resemble them. 

 When trout feed on small fish, as minnows, and on flies, they have 

 more tendency to become spotted with small black spots, and are 

 generally more silvery." 



Charles Lanman, an angling artist and author, says : 



" Various causes have been assigned for the great variety in the 

 color of the brook trout. One great cause is the difference of 

 food; such as live upon fresh- water shrimps and other Crustacea, 

 are the brightest; those which feed upon May-flies and other 

 ac^uatic insects are the next; and those which feed upon worms 

 are the dullest and darkest of all." 



Dr. A. T. Thompson, the author of " Treasury of Na- 

 tural History," observes: 



" That each species of trout has its peculiarities of color, but 

 the common trout is the most beautiful of its class ; the variations 

 of its tints ahd spots, from golden-yellow to crimson and greenish- 

 black, are almost infinite, and depend in a great measure on the 

 nature of its food, for the colors are always the most brilliant in 

 those fish that feed on the water shrimp." 



Near Waterville, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, thirty 

 years ago, was an extensive trout hatching establishment, 

 where a number of fine springs formed a considerable 

 stream after leaving the ponds and flumes, and into which 

 a number of brook trout had escaped at various times, so 

 that finally it became well stocked with trout, which propa- 



