THE GRAYLING. 167 



i. e. umbra (shadow) . Thus he is the " shadow-fish/' 

 and pretty enough name also, and said to be given him, 

 according to Hippolito Salivani, an Italian physician of 

 the sixteenth century, in his De Piscibus, cum eorum figuris , 

 "from his swift swimming, or gliding out of sight more 

 like a shadow or a ghost than a fish/' The grayling, 

 when in wait for flies, does not lie near the surface of 

 the water like the trout, but several feet below it ; and 

 his habit of darting up at his prey, and descending 

 again as rapidly and almost perpendicularly, by the aid 

 of his enormous dorsal fin, is certainly suggestive of 

 a fish which " fleeth as it were a shadow." But it 

 would almost seem that we are not to be allowed to enjoy 

 this explanation of " umber" in peace, for Cotton says he 

 is "apt to conclude" that the grayling has this name from 

 the black i. e. shadowy spots on his belly, and the black 

 colour about his head, gills, and back when he is out 

 of season. Cotton, however, is a little out in his facts 

 here, for in reality the darlter the fish, especially upon the 

 back and head, the better condition he is in. 



It is by no means an easy thing to describe the grayling 

 as to his form and colouring, so as to bring the fish before 

 the mind's eye. This is how one modern angling author 

 limns him : — 



" Its colouring, when in fine condition and just taken from the 

 water, is most lovely. The back is of a deep purple or claret colour, 

 with, small dark, irregular spots on the sides ; the belly is brilliantly 

 white, and the dorsal fin, which is remarkably large — almost dispro- 

 portionately so — is covered with scarlet spots and wavy lines upon a 

 ground of reddish-brown. The little velvet-looking back fin near the 

 tail is also dark brown or purple, and the whole body is shot with 

 violet, copper, and blue reflections when seen in different lights." 



This is the painting by another brush : — 



