FLY CATCHER 



3220 



FLYING CORPS 



part. The upper side of the cap is 

 orange-scarlet, flecked with ir- 

 regular > par tides of white the 

 remains of an outer envelope. 

 Well known as a poisonous species, 

 it was formerly employed for 

 poisoning fly-papers. It has also 

 intoxicating properties, and is used 

 in Kamchatka in preparing vodka. 



Fly Catcher (Muscicapa). Small 

 bird of a family including nearly 

 300 species. All feed upon insects, 

 which they usually catch on the 

 wing. The tail is in most species 

 considerably shorter than the wing, 

 and while the European species are 

 plainly clad in sombre hues, some 

 of the tropical ones are extremely 

 gorgeous. The pied fly catcher ( M . 

 atricapilla) comes to Great Britain 

 in the spring, the spotted fly catcher 

 (M. grisola] late in summer, and the 

 red-breasted fly catcher (M . parva) 

 is occasionally seen in autumn. See 

 Egg, colour plate. 



Fly Fishing. Fishing with an 

 artificial fly. The flies are made of 

 feathers, silk, tinsel, fur, and other 

 materials. Trout-flies, especially 

 those used in the dry-fly method, 

 are made to resemble as closely as 

 possible some form of fly or other 

 aquatic insect. 



The fly, which is attached to 

 the line by a cast of gut of a thick- 

 ness varying with the shyness of 

 the fish, the colour of the water, 

 and other conditions, may be 

 either sunk deeply in the water, or 

 fished wet near the surface, or 

 floating. The opinions of experts 

 differ about the value of colour in 

 artificial flies, as compared with 

 their size and form, but all agree 

 that the principal factor in success 

 is the way in which the fly is pre- 

 sented to the view of the fish. 

 Recent experiments in under- 

 water photography have done 

 much to confirm the view that, 

 when fished " dry " or. floating, 

 the important factor in an attrac- 

 tive fly is its silhouette as seen 

 against the light. 



It is esoential in fly fishing for 

 the angler to keep himself and his 

 rod out of sight of the fish, and 

 this condition is usually ensured 

 by keeping low when fishing up 

 or across a stream, and by using 

 a long line when fishing down 

 stream or casting over a loch. 

 Correct casting requires skill which 

 can be attained only by practice. 

 Where the surroundings permit, 

 the rod can be kept up and the cast 

 made overhead ; it can also be 

 made underhand, or the line can be 

 got out by the Spey throw or other 

 such methods, such as the down- 

 ward cut employed against the 

 wind. The best sport to fishermen 

 with the fly in the United Kingdom 

 is given by salmon, sea-trout, and 



Fly Catcher. The pied fly catcher, a 

 spring visitor to Great Britain 



brown trout of different species, 

 and grayling. 



Fly fishing with natural flies is 

 another method, but, owing to the 

 difficulty of keeping them on the 

 hook when casting, the method of 

 dapping is employed. The fly is 

 dropped on the water and raised 

 again with a short line, or a long rod 

 is used with a light blow -line, taken 

 out by the wind. See Angling. 



Flygare-Carlen, EMILIE SMITH 

 (1807-92). Swedish novelist. Born 

 at Stroemstad, Aug. 8, 1807, in 

 1 827 she married Axel Flygare, and 

 was left a widow in 1833. She pub- 

 lished her first novel, Vladimir 

 Klein, in 1838, under the pseudo- 

 nym "Fru F." In 1841 she 

 married John Gabriel Carlen, 

 lawyer and man of letters, and 

 continued to write many stories, 

 largely concerned with the life of 

 the Norwegian coast. She died at 

 Stockholm, Feb. 5, 1892. Many of 

 her novels have been translated 

 into English, including The Rose of 

 Tistelon, 1844; The Birthright, 

 1851 ; The Guardian, 1865. Her 

 collected novels were published in 

 31 vols., 1869-75. See her Remin- 

 iscences, 1878. 



Flying Boat. Aeroplane the 

 body of which is of boat formation. 

 The flying boat is exactly what its 

 name implies. In the hull of the 

 boat space is provided for passen- 

 gers, pilot, petrol supply, and cargo. 

 The engine is usuallyplaced between 

 the wings, which are attached di- 

 rectly to the boat. The boat itself 

 is capable of being anchored out in 

 harbour in exactly the same way 

 as the ordinary boat, and it can, if 

 necessary, move under its own power 

 on the water without rising. Flying 

 boats are among the heaviest types 

 of aircraft. The N.C. 4 type, for 

 example, which flew the Atlantic in 

 1919, weighed over 11 tons in flight. 

 During the Great War flying 

 boats, especially the A.D. flying 

 boat and the large Felixstowe boats 

 built by Commander J. C. Porte, 

 were employed extensively on 

 patrol work and submarine spot- 



ting. Flying boats are invaluable 

 for all coastal work, while for cross 

 ocean transport, types have been 

 constructed to alight with equal 

 facility on either land or water. 

 See Seaplane. 



Flying Buttress. In architec- 

 ture, a half arch used to transmit 

 the thrust or pressure of a struc- 

 ture, usually a vault, to a main 

 buttress or solid foundation. Fly- 

 ing buttresses were first used in 

 France in the 12th century, and 

 formed a principal decoration of 

 the exterior of French cathedrals. 

 There are fine examples at West- 

 minster Abbey. See Buttress. 



Flying Column. Body of 

 lightly equipped, self-supporting 

 troops which operates for short 

 periods at & distance from its base. 

 Such bodies are necessary when 

 regular armies are engaged in 

 putting down guerrillas. The term 

 has also been applied to large forces 

 like those of Sir Donald Stewart 

 and Sir Frederick (later Earl) 

 Roberts, which during the Afghan 

 War of 1878 abandoned their com- 

 munications in order to march to 

 the relief of a beleaguered garrison. 

 Flying Corps, ROYAL. Former 

 branch of the British army. Early 

 military aviation in the British 

 army was in the 

 hands of the bal- 

 loon section o f 

 the Royal Engin- 

 eers, a branch 

 formed when the 

 value of observa- 

 tion balloons was 

 first recognized. 



Flying Cor^s badge Jt x subsequenly 

 controlled the 

 service airships and, later, aero- 

 planes, but little encouragement 

 was offered officially. In 1912 the 

 Royal Flying Corps was formed, 

 being mainly constituted of officers 

 convinced of the value of the new 

 arm who had become pilots pri- 

 vately at their own expense. It 

 incorporated a Naval Wing, though 

 this was controlled from the air 

 department at the admiralty and 

 became independent in 1914 as 

 the R.N.A.S. 



The R.F.C. was much handi- 

 capped by inefficient equipment 

 and lack of official foresight, and at 

 the outbreak of the Great War had 

 a total personnel of approximately 

 2,000 and only 82 aeroplanes in fit 

 condition to send overseas. In- 

 domitable courage and individuality 

 enabled many difficulties to be 

 overcome, and the services ren- 

 dered in the early stages of the 

 war were invaluable, but the 

 equipment was never superior to 

 that of the enemy until the De 

 Haviland and F.E. machines were 

 introduced to counteract the 



