ON MATERIALS. 37 



word is required to teach one to properly 

 regulate the pressure and speed of scraping. A 

 previous steeping of the herl in boiling water will 

 somewhat facilitate the operation. The herl should 

 then be partially dried before being scraped. 



Peacock heiis from the lower part of the feather 

 have shiny brown quills, which are occasionally 

 useful, and, besides peacock herls, those of the 

 ostrich are sometimes employed. 



Condor and adjutant herl quills are recom- 

 mended by Mr. Halford, and are certainly excel- 

 lent; but Mr. Halford must be in a peculiarly 

 fortunate position for obtaining them. Mr. 

 Hardy, of Alnwick, was good enough to send me 

 a small piece of condor feather, originally in the 

 possession of Mr. Halford. He told me at the 

 same time that the difficulties incident on 

 " catching your condor " are too great to allow 

 condor feathers to be a marketable commodity. 

 I believe that adjutant feathers are also very 

 scarce. There are probably many large and 

 coarsely plumed birds of the eagle, vulture, or 

 crane families, for instance, which have herl quills 

 more or less suitable for fly dressing. Those of 

 the heron have been used. 



A piece of quill of a different class, for body 

 material, may be torn from almost any wing or 

 tail feather, in the following manner : 



Tear off the webs of feather from both sides of 

 the shaft, thus removing along with them that 

 part of the quill from which they grow. Next 

 cut off the tip of the feather and split it at the 

 smallest end with the scissors' points. Then tear 

 the split ends apart, and scrape the insides of the 

 two strips of quill thus produced. 



If the web, instead of being torn off, be cropped 

 closely with the scissors from a point near the tip 

 to the root end, the quill from which it has been 

 growing may be used as body material. 



