MATERIALS FOR FLY-MAKING. 103 



tinged at their edges with a golden hue, are 

 invaluable for a particular sort of the duns. 

 Hens, unlike cocks, improve for the fly-maker- 

 with age, every year adding to the strength of their 

 hackle-stem, and to the fineness of their plume 

 fibres. The best season for procuring hackles is 

 mid-winter, when the fowls are in full plumage. 

 Nature will furnish sufficient variety of colour to 

 obviate the necessity of dyeing, which gives an 

 unnatural character to the feather, and, unless 

 for salmon-fishing, is altogether unnecessary. 



The different parts of a hackle are shown in 

 the annexed engraving, in which a represents the 



quill, b the point ; from d to e the stem ; and 

 c c c c the plume. 



MATERIALS FOR WINGS. 



The wings of artificial flies are most commonly 

 made with a portion of the feather of some bird's 



H 4 



