HACKLES. 47 



and I always "disgrace" " Childers " by dressing him with one dyed 

 yellow the black points being far more effective than those of the 

 furnace-hackle. 



3. Knee-cap hackles (a cross between Malay and Polish fowls). A 

 red Cock's hackle with a slightly irregular black streak tapering, and 

 running through the centre of red fibres on each side of the quill. The 

 colours are much the same as in the " coch-a-bonddu," only that they are 

 placed differently, as shown in the picture. They are very scarce. 



4. Irish-grey hackles. A transparent, silver hackle, spotted and 

 scored with dark pencillings. For Standard flies, Nondescripts and 

 Grubs, the value of these feathers can scarcely be over estimated. They 

 look well, and pay well, when put along the body of any sort or colour, 

 and I have invariably found them useful in bright water, let the river be 

 what it may. With the " Purple Emperor," dressed without the hen 

 Pheasant at throat, I killed fourteen fish at Knockando in May, 1892, 

 before changing the fly. 



5. Monkey hackles. A transparent grey hackle having a series of 

 curiously-shaped dark blotches on each side of the quill resembling a cat 

 in a sitting posture. For Grubs these are invaluable. With the " Ringlet," 

 at the time it was introduced at Usk, I killed, in one week, thirteen 

 Salmon (averaging nearly 1(5 Ibs.), when the water was low and winged 

 flies played out. 



Of Heron's hackles, I have a few words to say. Most of us know 

 the ordinary grey Heron hackle is effective on many rivers. But on 

 many other rivers it is underrated, for I often use the feather with success 

 where Herons are unfashionable. Anglers are apt to fancy that because 

 the hackle is twice as long as the hook the fly is thereby made twice as 

 large. This is a mistake. The size of a fly is estimated by the length of 

 its body rather than by the length of the hackle it carries. For some 

 flies, as, for instance, the " Rough Grouse," the grey Heron is altogether 

 surpassed by the " Crown Pigeon " hackle. The cinnamon Herons, of 

 which there are several species, are not all of equal value. Of these, the 

 Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax calidonicus), of New South Wales, 

 provides a large number of exquisite hackles and wing feathers, and so 

 does the one known as Nijcticorax Manillensis. The Demigretta gulansia 

 the best of the black species. 



