THE ART OF FLY-MAKING. 59 1 



of brown and mixed colors furnish tliem. White secondaries are 

 used for the wings of the moth fly or white miller, as also for the 

 coachman. Dun feathers are almost as difficult to procure as dun 

 hackles. When one is fortunate enough, therefore, to obtain them 

 in excess of his own wants he should garner them up for the 

 needy ; for fly-makers are great beggars. Red ibis of course will 

 be seized on, as well as the crest, ruff, back and breast feathers of 

 the golden pheasant. Turkey, the secondary and tertiary, as well 

 as the tail feathers, also come into play ; so also do some of the 

 wing feathers of the wild goose. English blue jay, guinea fowl, 

 macaw and parrot, and golden pheasant are used almost entirely 

 in tying salmon flies. 



Let me imagine, my reader, that you have taken a seat by my 

 side at the table where I tie my flies.' Before us are two paper 

 boxes, each about sixteen inches long, four deep, and five wide. 

 On removing the top the sides towards us fall by little muslin 

 hinges, on the table. The boxes are divided by little pasteboard 

 uprights, each into five apartments of equal width. In the first 

 apartment of the box on our left, are bits of feather used for the 

 tails of flies, viz., the tail coverts of the mallard, teal, sheldrake, 

 and wood-duck ; feathers from the crest, ruff, back, and breast of 

 the golden pheasant ; red ibis, parrot, macaw, and a few dyed 

 feathers. The second, third, and fourth apartments are for the 

 feathers for wings, described in my first cast, and the fifth con- 

 tains my hackles. These feathers are neatly folded in slips of 

 paper and placed in large sized envelopes, which have the names 

 written at the top of the back. They sit edgewise in the box, 

 with the inscriptions all facing the same way, so that by passing 

 my fingers over them, I can easily find the feathers I am about to 

 use. The box to my right contains, each in its proper apartment, 

 hooks in little boxes, the size marked on top and bottom, hand 

 vise, spring pliers, picker, wax, a pair of sharp scissors, three aad 

 a quarter inches long, with blades an inch long and one-quarter 

 inch wide, a small flat piece of India rubber for straightening gut, 

 wrapping silk of various colors and degrees of fineness, floss silk, 

 peacock and ostrich herl, and the different kinds of dubbing as 

 enumerated previously. I do not imply by the foregoing that so 

 methodical an arrangement is necessary for an amateur, but 

 something of the kind would prevent confusion. 



