68 FLY-DRESSING MATERIALS. 



flies, as the little and large May-fly, precursors of 

 more gaudy ones for summer-tide, and in early 

 autumn he will find gnats, transparent duns, cin- 

 namon-coloured flies, ant-flies, and as the season 

 advances the spring flies, olive and green, re- 

 appear. This information is important. 



In dressing flies, colour is of more importance 

 than exact shape. If the colour of your materials 

 be bad, it is in vain for you to be correct in shape. 

 You must therefore ascertain the colours of the 

 living flies, and match them by artificial means. 

 The fly-fisher who is the best judge of colour 

 has an immense advantage over the bad colourist. 

 When by and by I give my list of flies, I shall be 

 most particular in stating the coloured materials 

 of which they are to be made. The wings and 

 feet of flies are almost always made of feathers, 

 the bodies of fur, mohair, silk, wool, &c. ; and 

 the fly-dresser cannot be too particular in the 

 quality of those materials and in their colours. 

 The most general feather for wings is the wing 

 feather of the starling, its longest or inner fibres 

 to be used ; the most general feather for legs and 

 sometimes for body is a cock's hackle-feather ; 

 and the most general substance for dubbing the 

 body is mohair : it is the best also. The hackle- 

 feather is taken from the back part of the cock's 

 neck, and that part of the bird affords feathers of 

 various sizes and various hues. Mohair can be 



