AND FLIES 39 



the stream with a malediction and ex- 

 claims, " There ! Take your choice ! " 

 If a trout will not rise when he is made 

 a fair offer, there is nothing that will in- 

 duce him to do so. You may dabble the 

 most coquettish Coch y bondu across the 

 wind-ruffled water above him. You 

 may tickle his nose suggestively with a 

 most attractive Black Spider; yet he re- 

 mains in stolid indifference to all offers. 

 But half an hour hence, perhaps, the 

 same fish will be feeding with the char- 

 acteristic greed of his kind upon what- 

 ever presents itself in the shape of food, 

 provided it is not extravagantly unreal 

 in nature or appearance. Last summer 

 two little four-ounce trout were caught 

 in a mountain brook in quick succession, 

 one with a tiny, black midge-like fly, 

 which had been put on the cast by way 

 of experiment, and the other with a Pal- 

 mer of gaudy dress. The water was 

 clear, and it is worthy of note that the 



