35 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



July to December first; or if this be thought too long a period, 

 let them cut off the summer season, but in the name of all 

 that is sensible and fitting, let us have the first two months 

 of autumn. 



The following extract from a work on fly-fishing, by 

 Edward Hamilton, M. D., is here given place as having a 

 peculiar appropriateness in this connection: 



"There is something, however, in fly-fishing for Grayling, 

 and it has its own peculiar charms. First the time of year 

 when Grayling are in season the sultry days of summer are 

 past; the autumn colors predominate; all the senses are 

 quickened; the breeze is fresh and balmy just enough to 

 send your fly farther over to the other bank; the temperature 

 pleasant; the water not too cold for wading in fact, every- 

 thing combines to make this fishing very fascinating. I like 

 Grayling fishing also for the fish itself. A Grayling, in sea- 

 son, is worth catching.. I call in season, September, Octo- 

 ber and November; then the fish is as different as possible 

 from the same in June, July, and August, both in beauty 

 and in courage; no dead-heartedness then; and look at his 

 color he is indeed a glorious combination of purple, gray 

 and gold. I like him also for his boldness and daring, rising 

 again and again at the fly 



"Unabashed, will dare, 

 balked e'er so oft the disappointed snare 

 Simple and bold. 



"I say the Grayling is a bold and daring riser, and why is 

 this? He lies low in the river when watching for his prey, 

 and therefore is not so easily disturbed; and if you remain 

 quite still when he has risen and missed the fly and gone 

 down to his lair, he will surely, after a short time, rise again. 

 He rises, too, differently from a Trout. A Trout lies close to 

 the surface when he is feeding, and takes without effort the 

 flies floating over him, and also is easily scared. A Grayling, 

 from lying deep in the water, almost close to the bottom, comes 



