PISCATORIAL ENTOMOLOGY. 115 



of the insect. Except upon blustering windy days, these 

 flies are seldom " on " in sufficient quantities to excite 

 the attention of the fish; though as a luscious morsel, 

 the large fish seldom ignore even the solitary specimen 

 when it essays a paddling excursion across its native ele- 

 ment. Its general haunts are amongst the gravel and 

 pebbles by the sides of streams, hence the name; but 

 when carried by a high breeze to mid stream in any 

 number, the artificial may be used with signal success. 

 The larvae of these large water insects form food for fish 

 some ten days or more before they are mature enough to 

 "rise/' as the grub then becomes very active, and at- 

 tracts the attention of the fish. The grub, when ex- 

 tracted from the case or twig which it inhabits, is used 

 in a similar manner to the wasp bait and maggot for 

 bottom fishing. 



The Willow fly appears in August. This is a well- 

 known insect, and on all our most frequented trout and 

 grayling streams is one of the first flies that the latter 

 fish feed ravenously upon, when coming into condition 

 after the spawning period. The color of its wings is a 

 dark, ruddy, brown blue, with light-colored ribs, and 

 legs a rusty black. Unlike most naturals, these flies, in- 

 stead of taking their names from their own color, are 

 almost universally known by the term Willow, which 

 appellation may have originated from the fact of their 

 being generally most abundant in the immediate vicinity 

 of willow trees, particularly while upon the wing, when 

 they may be observed in whirling masses just above the 

 surface of the water. 



The Needle fly, Needle-brown, or Tail-to-Tail, as it is 

 sometimes called, is a peculiar- look ing insect; its wings 

 are folded in a manner so neat and compact, and fit so 

 closely to the body, as to give the observer the impres- 

 sion that it is devoid of them altogether. In the warm- 

 est hours of a September day, myriads of them are to be 



