92 FLIES, FLY-DRESSING, ETC. 



and a hook, the next thing is to choose a feather, 

 which, to make a neat spider, must be so propor- 

 tioned to the size of the hook, that the legs of the 

 spider, when dressed, will be about the length of 

 the hook. Before commencing, bite the end of 

 the gut between your teeth ; this flattens and 

 makes it broader in the point, which prevents it 

 slipping ; a thing very liable to occur with small 

 flies. Next, take the hook firmly between the 

 forefinger and thumb of your left hand, lay the 

 gut along its shank, and with a well-waxed silk 

 thread, commencing about the centre of the hook, 

 whip it and the gut firmly together, till you come 

 to the end of the shank, where form the head by 

 a few turns of the thread. This done, take the 

 feather, and laying it on with the root end to- 

 wards the bend of the hook, wrap the silk three 

 or four times round it, and then cut off the root 

 end. 



What remains to be done is the most critical 

 part of the whole operation : still holding the hook 

 between the forefinger and thumb of your left 

 hand, take the thread, lay it along the centre of 

 the inside of the feather, and with the forefinger 

 and thumb of your right hand twirl them round 

 together till the feather is rolled round the thread ; 

 and in this state wrap it round the hook, taking 

 care that a sufficient number of the fibres stick 

 out to represent the legs ; to effect this it will 

 sometimes be necessary to raise the fibres with a 



