98 THE SEA-TROUT 



Although not strikingly blue in the general tint of the body colour 

 as the salmon parr is, the sea-trout parr has a tinge of blue in its 

 colouring which, with the troutish yellow or brown that also enters into 

 its composition, results in a greenish-blue, or at least a hue that marks 

 it off from the purer yellow or brown of the trout. The distinction 

 becomes more apparent after the fish have been dead for some hours 

 and when the skin has dried. 



I have never been able to detect in the spots a characteristic 

 difference between a young sea-trout and a young trout ; nor is the 

 colouring of the fins in either fish always constant or distinctive. 



As to structure, the sea-trout parr seems to retain longer than the 

 trout an immature appearance of slender delicacy. With two fish each 

 of eight or nine inches in length the trout will seem of more robust 

 build, and its pectoral fins and tail will appear stronger and less delicate 

 than those of the sea-trout parr. The tail of the latter certainly retains 

 its forked shape much longer than does that of the trout. 



It has puzzled me not a little to compress within small compass, for 

 convenience of comparison and reference, these various distinctions, 

 but the following table may — subject to what has been written above — 

 serve the purpose : — 



[distinctions 



