THE AVOCET 291 



Indeed, I know of only two trout-flies in which a 

 white feather is used, and those could be dressed 

 just as well with any ordinary white feather, 

 such as is obtainable from a white pigeon ; also, 

 amongst the legion of salmon-flies, there are but 

 one or two patterns requiring white feathers, 

 and these are generally procured from the swan. 

 Fishermen and their requisites have doubtless 

 something to say regarding the diminution of 

 some birds to a certain extent, as is the case 

 with the Canadian wood-duck, but I cannot bring 

 myself to believe that the present rarity of either 

 the avocet or the dotterel is attributable to the cause 

 assigned to the extent supposed. I have been 

 a keen fisherman all my life, manufacturing my 

 own flies, whether for salmon, trout, or grayling, 

 and having fished, more or less, over Great 

 Britain and Ireland, am well acquainted with the 

 various patterns of fishing-flies and the materials 

 used in their construction. The dotterel is, or 

 was, at one time used for the manufacture of some 

 few North-Country trout-flies, and there was 

 doubtless a demand for its feathers. There were, 

 in fact, some nine or ten different varieties of flies 

 for which these feathers were used. However, 

 be this as it may, the avocet may be said to be 

 very nearly unknown in Britain at the present 

 time, more's the pity, for it is an exceedingly 

 graceful and interesting bird. The reader is, 

 I fear, but little likely to meet with it in 

 Britain. It is said to breed in some parts of the 



