EIGHTH DAY.] EPHEMERAE. 213 



of reproduction. In the early spring, the species 

 which are called green tails, from the colour of the 

 bags of eggs in the female, appear in the warm 

 gleams of sunshine that happen in cloudy days, and 

 they then cover the face of the water, and are greedily 

 seized on by the fish. As the season advances they 

 appear principally in the morning and evening. In 

 the heat of summer the phryganeae are almost 

 nocturnal flies, and seem to have the habits of moths : 

 at this season, now, I should say, the few flies that 

 appear are generally seen in the day-time. The 

 ephemera, another class of flies peculiarly interesting 

 to the fisherman, differ from the phryganeae in 

 carrying their wings perpendicularly on their backs, 

 and in having long filaments or hairs in their tails. 

 The March brown (see fig. 8,) the various shades of 

 duns, (see figs. 5, 6, and 7,) which I described to you 

 on a former occasion; the green (see figs. 9 and 10,) 

 and white May fly, the red spinner, (see fig. 11,) are 

 all of the class ephemerae. These flies are produced 

 from larvae which inhabit the water, which can both 

 crawl and swim, and which generally live in holes 

 they make in the bottom. They change their 

 coats several times before they become nymphae; 

 they quit their skin on the surface of the water ; 

 but even after they are flies, they have another 

 transformation to undergo before they are perfect 



