1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 153 The fry [of coal fish]..are called at Scarborough Parrs, and when a year old, Billets. About nine or ten years ago such a glut of Parrs visited that part, that for several weeks it was impossible to dip a pail into the sea without taking some.

1822 S. Hibbert Descr. Shetland Islands i. 119 Sillocks..known at Edinburgh (says Mr. Neill,) under the name Podleys, and at Scarborough of Pars.

1832 J. Cole Scarborough Guide 108 The principal fish brought to Scarborough for sale are..herrings, whiting, parr, billits, colefish.

1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker III. 42 The scaly brood In myriads cleave thy crystal flood;..The salmon, monarch of the tide; The ruthless pike, intent on war; The silver eel; and motled par.

1794 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XII. 569 The Clyde affords salmon, pike, trout, and parrs.

1815 Wks. of Alexander Pennecuik 107 (note) Salmo Salmulus, Samlet, or Par.

1844 Zoologist 2 527 Brandling-trout, fingerling, par, smolt, &c. all denote the same fish.

1868 W. Peard Pract. Water-farming x. 103 The ova deposited in our boxes have long since become parr.

1937 Discovery Apr. 114/2 Parr from these hatcheries are supplied to other rivers.

1987 Scottish Field Dec. 42/2 Existing stocks of Scottish salmon—from parr to forty-pounders—are under constant, and ever-increasing, pressure.

1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes x. 136/2 The parr of anadromous species that spend their juvenile lives at sea (Pacific and Atlantic salmon, steelhead trout) head downstream as silvery smolts.

1889 Daily News 9 July 5/3 What better means of diminishing the population of salmon can be invented than free parr-fishing?

1848 Littell's Living Age 7 Nov. 401/2 The parr markings, which may again be made visible on scraping off the scales of the smolt, was a fact well known to anglers.]

1880 F. Francis Bk. Angling (ed. 5) ix. 306 With bands or marks on the sides known as parr-marks.

1936 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles (ed. 2) 219 Between the parr marks there is a red spot.

1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes x. 136/2 Fry develop species-typical patterns of vertical bars on their sides called parr marks, the fish now being called parr.

1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Compan. vii. 134 The cutting of the parr-tail for stream fishing is an operation which requires some nicety and attention.

1866 A. W. Crichton Naturalist's Ramble Orcades 129 Though we spun the parr-tail assiduously we did not succeed in moving one [salmon].

1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 34/2 Par-tail fishing..is used chiefly when and where minnows are difficult to obtain, though some persons prefer par-tail as a bait to minnow.

1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. 605 Parre, a young leveret (Devon).