MAT-FLY FISHING. 1 53 



fibre and of a wrong tint ; the feathers also are generally 

 too large, so they have to be trimmed with scissors, 

 which is a serious objection, as by this process the 

 edge of the feather, being deprived of its natural fine 

 fringe, soon sinks in the water. 



Dyed feathers should always be avoided in dressing 

 floating flies, for chemicals are employed to extract the 

 natural oil, in order to allow the dye to bite, and by 

 this process the feather, which in its natural state 

 repels water, is converted into a species of sponge; 

 secondly, dyes never produce such a good tint as is found 

 in natural feathers. 



The cost of a Canadian Wood-Duck is about 20*. dead 

 or alive, which contains enough unbarred feathers to last 

 a lifetime ; while the black and white barred feathers 

 are in great demand for salmon-flies, selling in the 

 tackle-shops at from 3c?. to Qd. apiece. 



It should be remembered that the feathers of water- 

 fowl, when on the live bird, are dressed with an oily 

 liquid ; so feathers from lately-killed birds are best for 

 dressing drakes. When the feathers have been some 

 time dead, or the fly has had much use, the natural oil 

 will be lost, and the fly not float so well in consequence; 

 so the angler had better replace it artificially. For tliis 

 purpose a small piece of flannel soaked with oil can be 

 attached to the coat-button, upon which the angler may 

 now and again pass his finger previous to preening the 

 wings ; or should he by chance be in the habit of dressing 

 his own locks with a lubricant, the flannel may be dis- 



