290 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



The lesson of entomology as applied to the angler's purposes 

 has been most beautifully taught by Miss Sara J. McBride, an 

 accomplished naturalist of Mumford, New York, in an essay once 

 published in the Forest and Stream journal, which we take the 

 liberty to transfer to these pages herewith : 



" There is a large order of insects that live the first stages of 

 life in water, where for weeks, months, in some instances years, 

 they hide under stones ; carve an abiding place in submerged 

 driftv/ood ; feed on decaying vegetation in lazy inert masses ; bur- 

 row in the earth beneath the current ; weave together bits of 

 wood, gravel, stones, and floating debris, forming retreats that 

 surround them as they swim or daintily walk ; spin of silken 

 thread individual domiciles that they guard from intruders with 

 the valor of soldiers, or boldly and singly dash out in the current 

 swimming with agile rapidity. These are all fish food. But it is 

 only when they assume the perfect form, when they cast aside 

 their aquatic nature, and with gossamer wings float in the air, that 

 they are of interest to the fly-fisher — as he seeks to deceive the 

 finny tribe with their imitations, made of feathers, tinsel and 

 mohair. Insects are enfeebled at all changes in their life, and at 

 each successive moult when the pupa case is broken, too weak to 

 keep guard, they flutter and rest on the water an instant before 

 flitting away. At this instant many are seized by the wary fish. 

 Insects leave the water mornings and evenings, particularly the 

 latter, rarely at midday, never during rain storms or heavy winds. 

 It is at these times, when they are leaving the water, their imita- 

 tions are used to most advantage. It is that insect floating off 

 into a new element that the fish are watching and waiting to feed 

 on. At other times you may cast with success your favorite 

 ' brown hackle ' with its golden ribs and steel backbone — the 

 bland professor — the modest queen of the water, or the grizzly 

 king with his grey locks and flaming sword. Things which re- 

 semble nothing in the heavens above, the earth beneath, or the 

 waters under the earth : why fish take these, whether from 

 curiosity, or by way of dessert, no one perhaps will ever know, not 

 fully understanding the nature of the fish. But there is one thing 

 we do know, that when the countless myriads of these tiny crea- 

 tures are entering a new life in untried regions, the favorite flies 



