CHEEKS AND TOPPINGS. 471 



course it must be tied on first, and then the over wing. 

 Cheek feathers that is, short feathers, as kingfisher or 

 small jungle-cock, which are often put on at the shoulder 

 on either side of the wing, or toppings over the wing are 

 always put on after the main portion of the wing, and 

 both are often very troublesome to set well. The cheek 

 feathers will sometimes turn any way but the right when 

 the silk presses them, and practice alone will enable the 

 tyer to contend with the difficulty. They go in better 

 when the head is hard and the varnish dry. 



When the feathers of the wing are tied safely on, cut 

 off the refuse at the head of the fly, pretty closely to the 

 tie, unless you have toppings to put on. Toppings before 

 being laid on should be nipped with the thumb-nail at 

 the but, and the quill bent slightly, so that they may, when 

 tied on, have the proper set (see Plate XV. fig. 9, p. 466); 

 and one of the most difficult operations I know of is to 

 make half-a-dozen toppings set find lie well together ; on* 

 or the other, particularly if they be pretty large ones, wih 

 6 stare ' or point out of the right direction, thus rendering 

 the fly, which in other respects is an artistic and well-tied 

 chef cPceuvre, the visible sign of a tyro and a bungler. 

 Many a time have I arranged a wing of toppings a dozen 

 times over before I could get them to set properly. To 

 avoid having to drill such an awkward squad, the tyro 

 should select the toppings he is about to employ with care. 

 They should all be of the same form and bend, and the 

 quills straight and true ; for if one quill turns towards the 

 left, and another towards the right, unless he can nip them 

 properly and with certainty, so that they shall take the 

 tie kindly, they will assume their natural bias. 



Not that it matters two straws to the fish whether the 

 topping bends one way or the other, for in the water the 

 stream soon corrects all such little eccentricities; in fact, 

 it is possible that the fish may prefer them so, as having 



