EPHEMERAL AND DUN FLIES. 61 



that in most other varieties there is a predomi- 

 nating bluish grey tinge. Were it not for the 

 successional changes which take place in their 

 tribes, they might perhaps be conveniently and 

 appropriately divided into brown, red, and yellow 

 ephemerae ; of each of these the modifications are 

 almost infinite. 



c Of the brown ephemerae, or duns, some are 

 very dark, approaching a claret colour, which is 

 best imitated by a dark blue, mixed with a reddish 

 brown. These are usually found in the earliest 

 part of the fly-fishing season, and to them usually 

 succeed a mixture of red and coloured varieties, 

 followed by a new series, which are gradually 

 softened into the different hues of dun, orange, 

 or yellowish ash. Of the true dun ephemeral 

 flies the variety is equally endless, from the early 

 blue dun, which may be considered as the type, 

 through all the gradations of iron-blue, violet- 

 blue, ashy grey, and pale-blue. The yellow 

 ephemeras or duns are still more difficult to 

 define, as there are few even of the former that 

 do not exhibit a yellowish intermixing tinge about 

 some parts of their little frames. Often it appears 

 in exquisite orange bars over the abdomen, but 

 they derive their character from the yellow being 

 more strictly predominant. In some may be 

 perceived a slight mixture of bright yellow with 

 a larger of ashy dun. When both colours are 



