ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 117 



met with in the common hen, ducks, etc. Small flies, 

 gnats, etc., require the finest fibred feathers ; the small 

 birds present a field not much explored. The feathers are 

 picked from the neck, shoulders, back, rump, breast, and 

 sides, and the outside and inside of wings ; the fibres of the 

 latter are straight, and some rather stiffer suitable for 

 drakes. Silks, hairs, wools, furs, etc., must be of an elastic 

 and transparent quality ; for all the flies, as well as the 

 more substantial food of the fish such as minnows, bull- 

 heads, loaches, worms, larvse, etc. are of a dim transpar- 

 ency ; and all the flies throw off, more or less, tinty spark- 

 ling reflections, and shew rich transparencies, which, when 

 aptly imitated answer better ; dull opaque imitations are not 

 natural to them. The noble Salmon takes not the glitter- 

 ing bait as children choose toys, but from the rich trans- 

 parencies and sparkling reflections with which nature has 

 tinged their insect food. Hairs, such as mohair, or from 

 the hare's ear, shank, or other parts ; or from the squirrel, 

 or other animals of suitable fineness and shade, represent 

 the natural gleam of the legs of flies much better than the 

 formal and glittering cock hackle. The few fibres of the 

 hare's ear, on the breast of the brown drake and checkwing, 

 mingle naturally with the other parts, and make up the fly. 

 Many flies are tinged of other colors and shades, with furs 

 from the water-rat, mole, squirrel, etc. The blue drake is 

 internally orange, but her thin inky skin tinges her blue, 

 which is imitated with a few fibres of fox-cub down wrought 

 in with the orange silk, but it should be used sparingly (in 

 all cases), not to hold water or increase bulk, its purpose 

 being to throw off the blue tinge of the natural fly. Many 

 tinge with small strands of silk. Fibres from the peacock, 

 and other feathers are occasionally used, as for the head of 

 the coral-eyed drake, etc. ; but their sizes must not exceed the 

 bounds of nature, the object being to give to the arti- 

 ficial the same size and shape, and to throw off the colors 



