62 VARIETIES OF DUNS. 



bright, an elegant tint of green is produced In 

 others again, as the little yellow May-fly, bright 

 yellow prevails without mixture. Of all these 

 the series are wonderfully varied, some having 

 orange bodies and dun wings, while in others the 

 orange is shed over the wings, and the dun body 

 serves as a foil to them. 



s The successional change of colour which takes 

 place in the series of ephemerae, as they advance 

 from the spring to summer, and as they retro- 

 grade again towards autumn, has not escaped the 

 notice of anglers ; and we find in most of the 

 directions for fly-dressing the subject practically 

 glanced at, but no systematic arrangement of the 

 series has been attempted. All that has been 

 hitherto noted is, that in the early spring months 

 the predominating colour of the winged insects 

 which are seen near the water is almost black. 

 The early duns are of a very dark olive, whose 

 occasional varieties, as the season advances, assume 

 a lighter brown, while others shine in a heavy 

 blue ; until at length yellow, orange, or cinnamon 

 decks the former, and pale blue the latter, inter- 

 mixed with others apparently compounded be- 

 tween these. With one exception, that of the 

 blue-blow, the ephemerae appear invariably to 

 become of a lighter hue as warmth and light in- 

 crease ; and we see the summer duns dressed in 

 bright yellow, orange, red, and cinnamon. From 



