74 TROUT FLIES. 



edges of the stones, where they are carried in by the 

 current ; and where, from the sediment of the river, 

 they attach the material particles proper to form the 

 case in which we find them there contained, and 

 which, by some operation of the insect, is formed into 

 a proper fitting sheath for its body. Here it lies 

 snug, with its black head and fore feet, or feelers, 

 peeping out on the sweet light of life,* dining like a 

 young emperor on the rich, delicate, minute animal- 

 cule of which the water is pregnant. 



Trout angling is very different from salmon 

 angling ; because, the trout when feeding on flies 

 swims about in middle-water, or rather nearer to the 

 surface, picking and choosing the fly most agreeable 

 to his taste. For instance, in a summer flood, when 

 the river begins to subside, you may perceive on 

 the yet brown muddy water a variety of flies, of 

 many kinds and colours, floating down the current, 

 and the trout rejecting all the gay profusion as they 

 pass, and selecting one kind (probably a dark 

 coloured midge fly), no doubt just as carefully as he 

 does in the clearest water when circling round his 

 pool with an easy motion, you may* observe him 

 darting forward to scan the coming fly, which he 



* The cradle-skin of a large number of these maggots is quite close, 

 and these can, of course, neither put out head nor feet. [Ecu.] 



