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are considered by some an efficient substitute, 

 are, in consequence of the softness of their 

 fibre, incapable of resisting water so well as 

 the hackles of the male bird. The best time 

 for plucking dun birds is, in the middle of 

 winter ; for, as Mr. Bainbridge justly remarks, 

 "The feathers are then perfect and free from 

 that disagreeable matter, which, at other 

 times, is generally found in the pen part of the 

 feather." Dun hackles, when plucked in 

 March, and exposed to the action of the sun's 

 heat, assume a fine yellow tinge, and become 

 that useful feather, called the yellow dun. 

 Whenever a dun cock a pure dun one 

 falls into the hands of the fly-fisher he 

 should be treated as a thing beloved. The 

 best walk at some farm-house should be select- 

 ed for him, and the humanity and honesty of 

 the persons to whom you intrust the gallant 

 bird, should be unquestionable. 



Feathers, which make excellent hackles, can 

 be got from off the back of the grouse, from 

 the tail of the common wren, from the breast 

 and back of the partridge, from the outside part 

 nearest the body of the golden plover's wing, 

 from the inside of the snipe's wing, and from 

 the crests of the heron and green-plover. 



Dubbings : The general name of the mate- 



