AMERICAN TROUT-STREAM INSECTS 



to these their legs are attached; but those with 

 wings appear to have but one jumped-up shoulder, 

 as thick as their bodies, and united by a small, hair- 

 like link. They have two jointed feelers which 

 they use constantly ; and they run exceedingly fast. 

 Some species have one pair, and some two pairs, of 

 thin, glassy wings, which fall flat over the back and 

 reach beyond the end of the body. Their colors 

 vary from black to green. The sage-green ant ob- 

 served in August in such vast numbers I do not find 

 mentioned in English books; their red ant I have 

 not observed on our streams. The large black ant 

 has a flight in May and a lesser one in June. 



The first business of the angler when he arrives 

 at the stream is with the aquatic flies of the day. 

 If he cannot see these out on the water, he may 

 often discover them on a spider's web, or he may 

 find them with their creepers at their times of 

 hatching, at the edges of the stream. An hour or 

 two spent in research and observation, at intervals 

 through a season, will give a truer and more correct 

 knowledge of the right fly to use than many years 

 of angling; and it is often the shortest way to get 

 fine sport. 



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