118 PHYSOSTOMI. 



As food. — The flesh of these fishes varies, in some localities it is pink in colour, 

 in others white. At the lakes they are in the greatest perfection from July until 

 October. As they soon lose their delicate flavour after removal from the water 

 they are potted and thus considered a great delicacy. 



Habitat. — In Norway the red charr lives from a sea level up to 600 metres 

 above it : in the S.E. portions of the country it is rare, in West Norway more 

 common and captured in large numbers with a fly. Its flavour varies as greatly 

 as does that of the trout, and it appears to thrive best in lakes where the temperature 

 is somewhat uniform, without bottom springs and not having too large an amount 

 of brook-water flowing in. It extends to Great Britain and Ireland, France, 

 Southern Germany, and in the clear lakes of the Alps of Upper Austria, Tyrol, 

 Bavaria, Switzerland, also in the Carpathian lakes up to 6000 feet above the 

 sea. 



The Orkneys, being occasionally captured in Loch Stenness, and three were 

 obtained in Waas, in 1832 (W. Baikie) : also from North Uist in the Hebrides. 

 Examples from Sutherlandshire are in the British Museum, while Mr. J. Harvie- 

 Brown informs me that there is a charr loch about twenty-five miles from 

 Durness, on Ben Hope, where they are taken up to 1| lb. weight. At midsummer 

 they are only known to rise at one part of the loch, on its S.E. side, between the 

 exit of the stream and the island. In September numbers are taken with both 

 worm and fly. Mr. Bantock says that charr abound in scores of the Sutherland- 

 shire lochs, and mentions the one referred to on Ben Hope, and another small loch 

 (Borley) near the Manse at Durness ; they are also found in the upper end of 

 Loch Assynt. Thompson recorded their existence and obtained specimens from 

 Loch Corr, Loch Moy and Loch Killin, Inverness-shire. Specimens from Loch 

 Dochart, in Perthshire, were in the British Museum according to White, and Sir 

 J. Gibson-Maitland has taken them in Loch Rannoch. Pennar.t recorded them in 

 Loch Inch, Wigtownshire, and Thompson in Loch Grannoch, Kirkcudbrightshire. 

 Also an example from Loch Bruiach is in the national collection. Black, 1844, 

 observed that this fish had of late years disappeared from Loch Leven. 



In England the lake districts of Cumberland, Northumberland, and part of 

 Lancashire, more especially in Windermere, Keswick, Crummoch Water, Butter- 

 mere, Ennerdale, Coniston Water, Westwater and Hawswater, the area of which 

 is estimated at 35,320 acres, are those where charr do or did frequent. Winder- 

 mere, we are informed (1878), is very productive, while in Coniston the fish have 

 been poisoned by the mines ; they are also found in Rydal. In Windermere they 

 are somewhat restricted to the deep waters, and spawn in the River Brathay, 

 avoiding the Rothay, which is more frequented by trout. Some spawn in 

 November and some are said to do so in February. 



In Wales this fish is still found near Snowdon, in the Lake of Llanberris, Llyn 

 Cawellyn, Coss-.y-gedawl and Bettew Festiniog in Merionethshire. 



In Ireland. In the county of Donegal it has been taken in Lough Esk 

 (Camden), also from near Dunfanaghy (Templeton), L. Gartan, L. Kindun, 

 L. Shessuch, L. Keel (Thompson), and L. Derg (Field, June, 1879), and 

 L. Elvyn (Couch). In Antrim from L. Neagh (Dubourdieu) : Thompson visited 

 this place in 1834, and was informed that none had been captured for the last ten 

 years, although twenty years previously they had been abundant. An old fisher- 

 man explained the reason as follows : — " That they once went down the River 

 Bann to the sea and never came back again." In Monaghan at Lough Eaghish 

 (incorrectly spelt Esk) according to Templeton, who stated they had become 

 very rare and were all but extinct. In Fermanagh at Lough Melvin and L. Erne 

 (Thompson), Westmeath in Belvidere Lake (Ball), county of Cavanin Drumlane 

 Lake (Thompson) ; in county of Mayo, Castlebar (Daniel) and Lough Conn 

 (Pack) ; county of Galway in Lough Corrib, and L. Bonn (Thompson), Longford 

 at Lough Nabrach (Ball), Connemara in Lough Ourad (Davy), Wicklow in 

 Lough Dan (Thompson) and L. lada (Couch), Waterford in four mountain lakes 

 (Smith), and at Inchigeelagh in the county of Cork (Vyse). 



In figuring all the reputed species of British charr, as much as possible, 

 examples have been selected in the National collection in order to prevent the 



