SEASONS FOR SPORT. 351 



similar to that of May, the shades of Duns common 

 to that month are again prevalent, and are useful 

 for the capture of trout and grayling. The whole of 

 the foregoing flies are seasonable " naturals." There 

 may be days, however, upon which none of these may 

 be out, when the fly-fisher has to fall back upon what 

 are designated " fancy " flies, the chief and foremost 

 of which are the palmered-dressings, known as the 

 Tassel fly or Bumble. These are constructed in 

 many shades, ranging from the blue-white ordinary 

 dressing to the dark furnace or black red one. The 

 Honey Dun, the Red, and the Common Bumble are 

 the best for autumn fishing. Tag-tailed artificials are 

 also used to tempt the fastidious fish, being hackled 

 flies with a tuft of wool or feather at the tail, after 

 the fashion of a salmon fly ; but fly-fishing for gray- 

 ling cannot be said to be usually lucrative when the 

 fish are not on the rise. The food of the grayling 

 consists of aerial and aquatic insects and their larvae, 

 small worms, grubs, etc. Amongst the contents of 

 their stomachs are also small shells and pebbles ; 

 these latter, we doubt not, are taken up, as in the 

 case of gallinaceous birds, to serve some digestive 

 function. 



In most rivers containing these fish they are not 

 found in the higher portions ; they seem to prefer 

 the deeper waters, at the bottom of which they lie in 

 the hot months, to avoid the effects of the high 

 temperature of the atmosphere. Whenever the water 

 is a little discoloured the fish will be on the move for 

 food ; a little inclement weather often does wonders 



