FLIES AXD KNOTS. 259 
like many other parts of it, are copied from the English 
writers, and in our waters are utterly valueless. The 
author, although a splendid sportsman, was not as an 
angler acquainted with our trout streams and ponds, and 
the contributor of the suj)plement judged rather too 
exclusively from his experience on Long Island. 
The first and most striking difference to be observed 
between the systems of the two countries is in the com- 
parative size of the flies, those of America, following the 
natural insect, being larger, and, probably for a similar 
reason, gaudier. It is a remarkable fact that the most 
gaudy of all, the scarlet ibis, is prominently successful 
alone in the streams of Long Island and of the British 
Provinces. As many of the Long Island trout yearly 
migrate to the sea, in which peculiarity they resemble 
the fish of the latter place, it may be that this fly is only 
a favorite with sea-going fish. A little tinsel wound 
round the body is supposed to improve its efficiency, as 
some fishermen suggest from a resemblance to the prin- 
cipal Winter food of the trout, the salt water minnow. 
The earliest fly on the Long Island ponds is a dark 
water fly, with a brownish red body and legs, and black, 
filmy, transparent wings. It is rather large, is wafted 
along upon and occasionally rises from the water, and 
never appears in any considerable numbers. It is usually 
represented by the English or female cow-dung, which, 
although not similar in coloring, presents somewhat the 
same general appearance. The wings, being transparent, 
should not be imitated with a black feather, although I 
have had great success when these flies were on the water 
with a fly that had black wings and a claret body and 
