TROUT-FLIES. QI 
tightly between the finger and thumb; by this means 
the wax is almost removed from two sides of the silk, 
and massed on the other two sides, producing a mottled 
yellowy-brown appearance in the fly somewhat like that 
seen in the March brown and other principal brown 
varieties, as the stone-fly, great and lesser red spinner, 
dark mackerel, &c., which are mottled with yellow or 
orange ribbings. The yellow and orange flies, on the con- 
trary, as the cinnamon, yellow sally, fern, sand, and cow- 
dung fly, are all either plain yellows or oranges, or if 
ribbed at all are ribbed with different tints of the same 
colours. The oak-fly is an exception. 
With regard to the heads of flies, these can, on the 
above principle of tying, be made almost microscopic 
without any sacrifice of strength; but I advise the 
angler, notwithstanding, to have them dressed large. 
The heads of Trout-flies are usually made much too 
small—much smaller, that is, than they are in nature, 
and smaller therefore than is desirable ; because it should 
be the aim of the fly-tyer rather to exaggerate than to 
diminish in the artificial imitation all the prominent 
features of the natural insect, so that on a quick glimpse 
the resemblance may be unmistakeable. This last obser- 
vation applies also to the “whisks” or tails, in exaggerating 
which there is an additional advantage, inasmuch as the 
larger the whisk the better and straighter will the fly swim. 
The following is the formulary for the three typical 
flies described :— 
