156 FROM THE FISHES' POINT OF VIEW. 



gold around the fly, mingling with which is a strong 

 suggestion of iridescent colouring, the colour scheme 

 having a focus of interest in the silver and red of the 

 eyes and head. The house fly is quoted simply as an 

 example which can be readily obtained and the 

 experiment verified with the minimum trouble. 



So much for a dull coloured fly floating — but 

 drown that fly, i.e. thoroughly wet it so as to remove 

 the small air bubbles from its surface, and look at it 

 sideways instead of from below, and it at once assumes 

 a sober colour, more like our usual conception of it. 

 If this happens with a sober, solid fly like the house 

 fly, how much more brilliant and beautiful do we find 

 the Ephemeridce, the gnats, and other flies, whose 

 bodies are almost transparent, and whose wings are 

 transparent glittering sheets of iridescent colours 

 blended with gold and silver ; and yet the fly dresser 

 attempts to imitate these with pale starling, blackbird, 

 or other dull opaque feathers simply because his 

 materials impose certain limitations, and again he fails 

 to appreciate the fishes' point of view. 



Viewed from above the usual feather imitation is 

 approximately correct, but viewed from below on the 

 surface of the water, particularly in strongish light, a 

 good glassy hackle will give a far better suggestion of 

 a spinner or gnat than any winged imitation ever can 

 do. To take an analogy, which is the more suggestive 

 of nature and the more pleasing — the laborious 

 intricately detailed painting of a landscape, where 

 every detail of herbage and foliage in the foreground 



