EPHEMERA. 133 



April does not come on elsewhere till June, or in 

 a third locality is over by the middle of March. 

 On the Greenwash, for instance, at the opening of 

 the season the successful flies used are the duns, 

 dressed from light and dark snipe, with sometimes 

 starling and dotterel. The famous " March- 

 browns " float down-stream later than their name 

 would imply, and one of the best of all lures, the 

 May-fly (represented in the north by the stone- 

 fly), does not make its appearance till June, or 

 sometimes July. April and May, if soft and 

 bright, usually present the greatest number of 

 flies, these sometimes seeming to cover the surface 

 of the stream. And here among the grasses and 

 water-avens you might say of a dozen species as 

 has been said of one : 



You find her out on every stalk, 

 Whene'er you take a river walk, 

 When swifts at eve begin to hawk. 



There are duns of every form and colour 

 gnats and willow-flies, and creepers among the 

 pebbles; and insects, insects everywhere. You can 

 put aside your rod, and lie down among the lush 

 summer grass, and examine them at your leisure. 

 The mechanism of each is wonderful, and all are 

 beautiful. But by carefully observing, you are 

 instantly aroused as what angler would not be ? 



