A SINGLE FEATHER DYED VARIOUSLY. 81 



an hour or two, more or less, according to your 

 desire for a paler or deeper yellow. Finally, take 

 out the feathers, and rinse them in hard spring 

 water. Red hackles, boiled in a similar liquor, 

 will become brown or amber. When you want 

 yellow-greens, either of hackles or mohair, add 

 blue paste, or indigo steeped in water for twenty- 

 four hours, to your yellow liquor, and by aug- 

 menting or diminishing the quantity of blue, you 

 will obtain several shades of yellow -green. 



I recommend the following to especial atten- 

 tion. It shows very simply how one and the 

 same feather may be dyed party-coloured, made, 

 as it were, a harlequin of. Roll some thread 

 tightly round a bunch of white hackles, leaving a 

 quarter of an inch uncovered at the points. Dip 

 in your yellow or other dye, and the points of 

 the hackles only will be dyed. Tie over the 

 dyed tips with thread, and unravel a little of the 

 first thread, tied on so as to expose a portion of 

 the feathers ; dip again in red dyeing liquor, or 

 in any other dye you like, and you will have a 

 second division of colour next the yellow. Pro- 

 ceed in like fashion the whole extent of the 

 feather, and you will give it as many stripes of 

 different colours as you may require. When per- 

 forming this pretty and useful operation, you 



