June, I9I2.] AldRICH: BiOLOGY OF WESTERN EPHYDRA. 



91 



that the collection of the fly for food would not begin until about 

 September i. None was left over from the previous year, so I was 

 disappointed in seeing either the material after preparation or the 

 process of putting it up. However, I talked with both Indians and 

 whites about it. There are only a few Indians who collect the 

 material now, although it is known among all the older Indians of 

 the tribe. The name of the food is better spelled " koo-tsabe," ac- 

 cented on the first syllable, the last two letters forming an obscure 

 syllable in which it is hard to distinguish whether the consonant is 

 b or V. " Fat Joe " pronounced it for me many times and I listened 

 very attentively; when I told him it had not been so recorded by 

 earlier investigators, he chuckled and replied in his free and easy 

 English. " Well, you understand I'm giving you the real thing." 

 White people at the lake emphasized the amount of time required to 

 free the little dried pupc-e from bits of puparium, dirt, etc.; they 

 thought it hardly worth while for anyone to work at it whose time 

 had any value. 



Most of the Pah-Ute Indians are now on reservations, one south 

 of Pyramid Lake and one at the north end of Walker Lake, and only 

 a few live near Mono Lake, where they eke out an existence on 

 koo-tsabe, dried caterpillars (which I have reported on elsewhere) and 

 pnie nuts, adding a minimum of white man's " groceries." 



The accompanying half-tones of the pupae will give some idea of 

 the food material that the fly makes. It has been reported that it 

 was also collected thirty or more years ago by Indians of the same 

 tribe at the two small soda lakes near Hazen, Nevada. 



The loss of my camera with all my exposed films in it, while I 

 was at Mono Lake, makes it impossible for me to give any illustra- 

 tions except from the material brought home— much to my regret, for 

 the lake and surroundings are very beautiful and picturesque. 



The main centers of this species might be said to be Mono Lake, 

 Owen's Lake, and Great Salt Lake— in all three they are exceedingly 

 numerous. 



I cannot forbear to include a brief extract from IMark Twain's 

 "Roughing It," about the characteristic fly of ]\Iono Lake, as it is 

 true to life: "You can hold them under water as long as you please 

 they do not mind it— they are only proud of it. When you let them 

 go, they pop up to the surface as dry as a patent-oftice report, and 



