194 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
is the feeding-time shorter, but the food is much 
scarcer. 
On the question of food supply it is worth 
while to recall the words of Mr. F. H. Halford : ^ 
" Food supply generally is . . . chiefly dependent 
on the presence of the weeds in which the best 
forms of food for the fish are to be found. ... It 
must not, however, be forgotten that, in Marryat's 
terse words, ' while floating food is caviare, sunk 
or mid-water food is beef to the fish.' Hence, 
when engaged in his examination of the weeds 
and the animal life contained therein, the fisherman 
should remember that he can only expect well- 
fed, good-conditioned, healthy, and consequently 
game trout in a (loch) which contains a bountiful 
supply of crustaceans, such as fresh-water shrimps 
and mollusks such as snails of the genera Limnaea, 
Planorbis,'' etc., etc. 
Further, it is of the utmost importance that 
the number of fish in the loch should be regulated 
in such a way that the food supply may be suffi- 
cient to enable the fish to grow to a large size. 
Where the fish cannot spawn eff'ectively, and 
it is therefore necessary to renew the stock, 
1 Tlie Dry-Fly Man's Handbook, p. 319 (George Routledge & Sons, 
Ltd., London). 
