MA TE RIALS, IMPLEMENTS, ETC, 1 1 



to spare, to dye his hackles. It is not only an 

 amusement, but a great saving of expense, since 

 dyed hackles are sold in the tackle-shops at three- 

 pence and fourpence a dozen ; and if the reader 

 follows my directions for dyeing, given in the next 

 chapter, he will find his hackles just as good, and 

 they will cost him a good deal less. 



Besides hackles, feathers from the following 

 birds are extensively used : Golden pheasant, 

 blue and yellow macaw, scarlet macaw, blue and 

 red macaw, toucan, Indian crow, jungle cock, 

 green parrot, chatterer, bustard, florican, guinea- 

 fowl, mallard, teal, pintail, widgeon, summer duck, 

 jay, scarlet ibis, turkey, swan, peacock and ostrich. 

 Feathers from a great many other birds are used, 

 in fact, their name is legion ; but with those 

 mentioned any of the ordinary standard patterns 

 can be tied. 



The Golden Pheasant's head and neck supply 

 us with gold toppings or crests, used for tails and 

 wings. Round the back of the neck or ruff are 

 the ' tippet ' feathers, used whole in wings or in 

 strands or strips for wings and tails, and occasion- 

 ally as hackles. The red breast feathers are used 

 for hackles ; the centre tail feathers for wings, 

 and the bright red ' spear ' or saddle feathers in 

 strands or whole in wings. All these are sold 

 separately. The fly-tyer should have an assort- 

 ment of all sizes of toppings and tippets. The 

 deeper in colour they are the better. The top- 



