HOW TO TIE FLIES. 



been continuously abundant, and where this was 

 not the case each species was so massed together 

 by itself as equally well to support my belief that 

 the trout at his ordinary meals is no lover 

 of nondescript dishes or of variety for variety's 

 sake. 



Why a trout should exercise this selective 

 faculty I am at loss to explain. It may be for 

 many reasons. It may be that he is a creature of 

 highly cultivated taste. Certainly no creature is 

 supplied with daintier food with which to develop 

 such. Or it may be that all the lower animals are 

 extremely conservative in their nature, perhaps 

 because it saves them the trouble of thinking, 

 or by reason of a sort of self -hypnotism. A 

 remarkable instance of this kind is that of the 

 bee, which may often be noticed to go from one 

 flower to another of the same colour, avoiding 

 those whose colour is different. I am aware that 

 this serves a useful purpose in properly fertilising 

 seed, but it is in the bee's own personal motives 

 that I am at present interested. And surely, if 

 such exist at all, they must contain their element 

 of selfishness. Are not all economic institutions 

 sustained on this principle ? 



If, then, the trout's habits in feeding are such 

 as I have attempted to prove them, the exact 

 imitation theory stands upon an exceedingly firm 

 basis. It is, of course, impossible to affix an 

 indelibly inscribed label to the character of any 

 individual, still less to that of any species, which 

 shall at all times truly describe it, and so it is 

 not unlikely that we should meet with occasional 

 contrary instances. But, in my opinion, these 

 contrary instances are not really so numerous as 

 they would seem to be. In the first place, there 

 is nothing to prevent our thinking in many cases 

 where " the wrong fly " is taken that it is taken 

 rather for its resemblance to the " right " one 



