30 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



THE RAINBOW TROUT 



(Saltno irideus) 



A Story of the Habits and Characteristics of the Rainbow and 

 How Distinguished from Other Species 



BY 

 JOHN GILL 



Perhaps before this chapter is in print there will be no Rain- 

 bow trout. The debate of the question whether the Rainbow and 

 Steelhead trout are one and the same has waxed warmer for some 

 years among learned men. The greatest American ichthyologist, 

 Dr. David Starr Jordan, has during the past twenty years held 

 four opinions on this question, and may even now have changed 

 his mind again. This readiness to reconsider his views on the 

 subject indicates a broad and receptive attitude, and it also indi- 

 cates to the layman that this question is a difficult and puzzling 

 subject. 



In one of his earlier descriptions Doctor Jordan has written: 

 "There are no circumstances in which I have not been able to 

 distinguish the Rainbow from the Steelhead." In a work by 

 Doctor Jordan and Charles F. Holder (1909) the opinion is less 

 positive, as follows: "Very careful comparison of specimens 

 leaves no doubt that the two are distinct." 



Two years ago Doctor Jordan told the writer of this article 

 that he thought it probable the two types sprang from a common 

 parentage and might be one and the same fish. The apparent 

 difference between a Steelhead recently from the sea and a typical 

 adult ' ' Redside ' ' or Rainbow is surely greater than the difference 

 between a Rainbow of a pound w T eight and a Clark trout of that 

 size ; yet we have no confusion of the two latter. The greatest 

 chance for doubt is when the Steelhead, in the spawning season, 

 acquires a red side and enlarged head and jaws. 



THE RAINBOW STRIPE. 



Let us leave out any consideration of the fish least known to 

 both scientist and angler — Mason trout, which is believed to 

 inhabit only streams west of the Cascade summits — and take into 

 account the type which most anglers know as Rainbow or Red- 



