94 



PHYSOSTOMI. 



noses, due apparently to rubbing or routing up the ground for eggs, but as 

 such is not seen among unripe fish it is suggested that it may be occasioned 

 by their searching for suitable places in which to form redds. 



At Sir J. Gibson-Maitland's Howietown fishery, one fact was very patent, that 

 the form of trout least alarmed at the presence of strangers was the Loch Leven, 

 coming immediately to the surface for food, making the water bubble with their 

 numerous forms, while they allowed themselves to be removed by means of a hand- 

 net ; the American charr kept more to the mid- water ; but the common brook- 

 trout were so cunning that the very sight of a net caused them to dive down 

 and remain at the bottom. It may be that this difference in character is due 

 to inherited instinct and that by the time the Loch Leven trout have been 

 exposed to capture for several generations they will be as crafty as the Salmo 

 fario has now become. Some of the young raised at Howietown are observed 

 to take on cannibal propensities, if small their colour becomes yellow, their teeth 

 abnormally developed, while they rapidly augment in size. At Loch Leven 

 during the breeding season these fishes are observed to push up rivers to deposit 

 their spawn, and in these localities the young are hatched and the parr reared. 

 In fact its habits appear to be migratory to a qualified extent, the parr not leaving 

 the burns for the loch until they are from ten to eighteen months of age. 



Knox found that they were filled with entomostraca in the month of January, 

 but that during the remainder of the year they lived on Buccinum : at Howietown 

 they thrive on clams, horseflesh, or even vegetable diet. 



If we turn to Sir Robert Sibbald's History of Kinross-shire, compiled about 

 a hundred and seventy years ago, we read "Loch Leven abounds with fine 

 fish, such as salmon taken in summer;" while showing to how recent a date 

 anadromous forms have been recorded there, we find in Graham, " General view 

 of the agriculture of Kinross and Clackmannan," published towards the commence- 

 ment of the present century, that among other fishes " flounders are also found in 

 Loch Leven." These instances agree with the general traditions of that part 

 of the country, that marine fish formerly had free ingress into and egress from 

 Loch Leven, but when this ceased is questionable. Prior to 1830 the loch 

 covered a superficial space of 4312 acres, but in the month of December that 

 year it was reduced to 3543 acres by the completion of a drainage scheme, 

 promoted partly by landowners in the vicinity to reclaim land and partly by mill 

 owners on the river Leven to give a regular supply of water to their mills. Through 

 the new cut the water has since been carried, reducing the level of the loch nine 

 feet below what it previously stood at. Sea fish cannot possibly obtain ingress, 

 a matter of not so much consequence, as the bleach and other works on the river 

 render the water too poisonous for any fish to pass up them alive. 



These drainage works do not appear to have proved beneficial to the trout in 

 the loch, where from 1846 to 1855 the captures principally taken by net averaged 

 annually 13,200, subsequent to which I have not obtained the figures until 1872, 

 when 18,000 were taken by anglers and 2000 by net : and in 1873, when 13,394 

 were taken by the rod. Latterly this loch has been much frequented by anglers, 

 and as the fish (probably due to the excessive lowness of the burns), appear now to 

 be less favourable for breeding, artificial stocking has been resorted to. 



Sir J. Gibson-Maitland (Field, Sept. 23rd, 1882) shows the results of stocking 

 this loch from his establishment at Howietown : — 



1875, fry 



turned 



in 9000 



captures 5093 : 



average 



weight each I'll 3 lb. 



1876 „ 



» 



50,000 



>> 



3227: 





» i 



, 1-086 lb. 



1877 „ 



5> 



70,000 



>> 



6286 





)> 



, -901 lb. 



1878 „ 



5> 



? 



>j 



13,519 





5) 



, -685 lb. 



1879 „ 



5> 



none 



5> 



21,491 





>> 



, -7771b. 



1880 „ 



J) 



none 



J> 



19,642 





>> 



„ -960 lb. 



1881 „ 



5> 



none 



5> 



16,811 





)J 



, 1-050 lb. 



1882 „ 



>> 



50,000 



>> 



9-018 





JJ ) 



, ? 



It is pointed out that it takes two seasons for the fry to attain to a size worth 

 taking, a conclusion which agrees with the figures, also that with the increased 

 captures at first there is a diminution in the weight of the individual fish. 



