BAIT AND FLY FISHING. 75 



having its wings folded up under the skin ; 

 after emerging from the water form, and 

 passing into the fly form, the prongs assist 

 it in the act of spawning ; it spawns above 

 the water as the salmon and the trout do 

 under it. The milter takes a sweep round 

 before they unite, and both the male and 

 female flies take a direct upward flight for 

 a distance of three yards, then separate, and 

 descend singly, poising themselves on their 

 wings, and re-uniting when within a foot of 

 the surface of the water. Sometimes the 

 feet of the one catch the wings of the other, 

 and both fall into the water, when the 

 wary, watching trout gives them short credit 

 for their mistake. If the male parts off 

 first, the female flies over the surface of 

 the water, striking it about every three 

 feet until it has finished its spawning. When 

 this fly first appears, it is of a grey colour, 

 with mottled wings, five-eighths of an inch 

 long, and prongs of the same length. It 

 changes its colour from a grey to a red body, 

 with clear wings, after being a few days out 

 of the water. I have imitated this fly as it 

 first appears, by making its wings out of the 



