28 



HOW TO TIE FLIES. 



Then slit the quill straight down the middle, turn 

 it inside out, detach the outside membrane at 

 the extreme root end with the thumb nail, and 

 tear it off the quill. (Fig. 10.) 



The membrane obtained will be of a good 

 size, and will take a dye readily. It will be 

 possible to get a small piece of almost any degree 

 of fineness required. For although at the ex- 

 treme root end it will be somewhat stiff and 

 thick, it tapers away in the opposite direction to 

 the fineness of the wings of the natural fly. In 



FIG. 10. 



1. Quill intact. 2. Quill split and membrane partially 

 separated. 3. Membrane as used for wings. 



dry fly making it can be used double, i.e., four 

 thicknesses going to form the two wings. 



For perfectly white wings, the swan's wing and 

 tail feathers are generally used. These are quite 

 fine towards the edge. Aylesbury duck feathers 

 are also good. 



Wings with white tips and roots almost black 

 are obtained from the secondary (Fig. 11) wing 

 feathers of the mallard. Plover tail feathers 

 afford wings with black tips and white roots. 

 The small feathers found on the inside of snipe 

 and golden plover wings, as well as those of some 

 other birds, may be used for wings with white 



