58 LIST OF FLIES. 



evening they muster in swarms in the vicinity of the 

 streams, towering upwards, higher than the eye can 

 see. Each individual fly keeps long on the wing, in 

 up and down motion, rising and falling nearly perpendic- 

 ular ; this is repeated each evening until the females 

 leave the society, and repair back to the waters, which 

 is often their destruction, but the salvation of their 

 offspring. She fearlessly braves all its dangers, hovers 

 over it, and frequently drops upon it to deposit her fu- 

 ture progeny safely on its surface, which seems to be 

 her only care and last enjoyment in life. After laying 

 her eggs she becomes weak and languid ; numbers fall 

 exhausted on the waters and are taken by the fishes, 

 or die. Their continuation as green and grey drakes 

 may be for six weeks, when they disappear for the year 

 small groups of later flies may be sometimes seen to 

 the end of July. In this manner the blue, brown, 

 checkwing, the watchets, and all the drake species have 

 their beginning, career, and end of life. The brood or 

 swarm of each species, at their appointed times, burst 

 from their creeper skins at the top of the water, sport 

 their short lives, and make their exit similar to the 

 green and grey drake. 



64TH. WHITE DRAKE. Length, about one-eighth, 

 altogether white, except a brown dab on the top of the 

 shoulders ; wings, rather broad, and shew pinky tints ; 

 body, thickish, with three whisks. After casting is 

 much smarter, and the dab on the shoulders a fine ru- 

 fous or red brown. There is another variety of the 

 same size, but a pale blue color : both are too small 

 for the purposes of the angler. 



