The mystery of this all-conquering tail seems to be,
that it represents the yellow pollen, or 'bee bread' in the thighs or
abdomen of the bee; whereof the bright colour, and perhaps the strong
musky flavour, makes him an attractive and savoury morsel. Be that
as it may, there is no better rule for a chalk stream than this--when
you don't know what to fish with, try the governor.
4. The black alder (Sialis nigra, or Lutaria).
What shall be said, or not be said, of this queen of flies? And what
of Ephemera, who never mentions her? His alder fly is--I know not
what; certainly not that black alder, shorm fly, Lord Stowell's fly,
or hunch-back, which kills the monsters of the deep, surpassed only
by the green drake for one fortnight; but surpassing him in this,
that she will kill on till September, from that happy day on which
'You find her out on every stalk
Whene'er you take a river walk,
When swifts at eve begin to hawk.'
O thou beloved member of the brute creation! Songs have been written
in praise of thee; statues would ere now have been erected to thee,
had that hunch back and those flabby wings of thine been 'susceptible
of artistic treatment.
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