258 FLIES AND KNOTS. 



fisherman has noticed flies at one time that he may not 

 see again for a long period, and has found his imitations 

 of them perfectly useless. 



The first tree that puts forth leaves in the spring is the 

 maple, and its buds are a bright scarlet. As they drop 

 into and are swept along the surface of the water by the 

 wind, the fish seize them, no doubt either decoyed by 

 their appearance or attracted by insects that may be con- 

 cealed upon or within them. The scarlet ibis resembles 

 these buds nearer than any other known thing, and is 

 probably mistaken by the fish for them. 



"When commencing this work, it had been my inten- 

 tion .not only to describe the artificial flies in general 

 request, but to give the habits, periods and names of the 

 natural ones of which they were imitations, without 

 which latter information the former would have been far 

 from complete. But the obstacles in my way were so 

 numerous, the confusion existing as to names, localities, 

 and times of appearance was so utter, the difficulty of 

 finding any satisfactory work on the natural insects so 

 great, that I was almost in despair ; on the point, how- 

 ever, of making the attempt, rash as it appeared, I was 

 informed that the matter had been undertaken by a friend 

 of mine, who is every way equal to the task. Although 

 much relieved, there w r as still something to be done to 

 give a general idea of the flies in use with us. On this 

 subject, the only work existing of any value is the sup- 

 plement to Frank Forester's " Fish and Fishing," written 

 by a gentleman who is a thorough sportsman, and along- 

 side of whom I have often had the pleasure of casting 

 the fly. The directions in the body of that work itself, 



