The May -Fly. 133 



Still, if it cannot be said of angling as of love 

 that " its month is ever May," or of the angler as 

 of the summer bird that in his year he has no 

 winter, we can derive from the rarity of good 

 sport only the greater zest for its enjoyment ; and 

 when " May is in the sere," let the happy memor- 

 ies of the big baskets of the past colour our visions 

 of the bigger baskets of the future, while 



"We dream the winter through, 

 Then waken to the sun again 

 To find our summer vision true ! " 



I have already considered the claims of the 

 stone-fly to the title of the May-fly, and noted 

 some points in its natural history. In ordinary 

 seasons it appears about the 20th of May, and lasts 

 till the 6th or 10th of June. The time of its de- 

 velopment and the period of its existence will of 

 course be influenced by the state of the weather and 

 the nature of the district : on the lower reaches 

 of the Clyde and the Tweed, it may be seen a 

 week or ten days earlier than in the upper sections 

 of those rivers. On some streams it is found in 

 greater abundance than on others ; and even on the 

 same stream, as we have seen, all portions are not 

 alike favourable. It is never plentiful on rivers 

 which flow over a soft muddy bed, for a stony 

 channel is its natural home. The eggs are de- 



