LAKE AND STREAM 217 



little domain in which he moves is his ; 

 and if we watched long enough we 

 should probably find that when he rests, 

 or feeds on flies, he is stationary at some 

 particular part of it. Here and there, 

 most notably where a tributary joins the 

 stream, three or four trout are often to be 

 seen together. These hardly ever move 

 from the spots on which they are lying, 

 or above which, as they will be if on the 

 outlook for flies, they are poised. Each 

 seems to think that if he went away for a 

 while he would have a battle for his place 

 on coming back. These three or four 

 trout, too, are in a distinct order of pre- 

 cedence. The biggest is closest to the 

 point of contact between the tributary 

 and the stream. Being there, he has first 

 choice of the tid-bits which the brook 

 or the ditch is bringing down. Next to 

 him is the second-biggest ; next again, 

 the third- ; and so on. When one is 

 taken by an angler, his immediate junior 

 has a step in promotion. If all of them 

 are taken, next day three or four more, 



