196 THE COLOUR-SENSE IN FISHES 



supposed to represent, they certainly bear no 

 resemblance to flies ; whereas trout-flies are 

 presumed to be imitations of natural insects, 

 at least in so far as river-fishing is concerned. 

 One might therefore suppose that here, at least, 

 the matter of colour must be all important, 

 always assuming that trout have the power of 

 colour discrimination ; and in the view of the 

 ' Dry-fly purist,' as he loves to be termed, it is 

 taken for granted that it is so. One has only 

 to study the very interesting text-books of Mr. 

 Halford, for instance, to find that the most 

 delicate shades of colour in silk, hackle or wing 

 are strenuously insisted on. 



Let us look, however, for a moment on the 

 other side of the shield, and recall the most 

 interesting and practical experiments of Sir 

 Herbert Maxwell, well known as an angling 

 expert, an observant naturalist, and one endowed 

 to an unusual degree with the faculty of critical 

 analysis and deduction. The results of his ex- 

 periments are embodied in a report published 

 in the Field of iQth June, 1897. As all readers 

 may not have access to it, a short summary 

 may be of interest. Sir Herbert had some 

 May-flies dressed in the ordinary way, except 

 that they were dyed of a brilliant scarlet or 

 blue ; and with these he proceeded to fish 



