1 42 HAMPSHIRE STREAMS AND WOODLANDS 



and after some conversation both climbed the bank, and 

 went off in a vast hurry to the strawyard, where they 

 also composed themselves to sleep. By this time every 

 one of the larger birds in sight was dozing, and the 

 writer so far followed their example as to move to the 

 sunny side of an old brick bridge, and there, with the 

 warm wall behind, and the shining river in front, to 

 watch the trout, and lunch. The sun was at its hottest, 

 when a whole flock of chaffinches came hawking down 

 the river, in eager pursuit of something which had not, 

 till then, appeared upon the scene. We looked, and 

 there over the surface of the water were hundreds of 

 " May-flies," hatched by the sudden heat. Of course 

 they were not true " May-flies " ; but for all that they 

 were true Ephemeridce^ with long white tails and 

 transparent wings, " March browns," we believe, in the 

 language of the fly-fisher. Poor creatures ! What 

 with the chaffinches above, and the greedy trout in the 

 water below, even their brief day was shortened. The 

 trout were in ecstasies. Before the appearance of the 

 swarm, they had been leaping from the water in sheer 

 exuberance at the fine weather. Now they settled down 

 to the serious business of eating. Not ducklings and 

 early peas, strawberries in February, ortolans in vine- 

 leaves, or the first plovers' eggs, could move the epicure 

 so deeply as the first dish of early " May-flies " in 

 March touched the imagination of the Hampshire 

 trout. The fish lay in lines across the river, each in 

 his favourite part of the stream, like sportsmen in a 

 row of grouse-butts. Constant quick rises just a 



