SETTING ON THE WINGS. 75 



shank, and back again to the spot at which you 

 see the silk depending, you will make a firmer 

 foundation for the setting on of the wings, the 

 time for performing which operation is now 

 arrived. 



Here you see the wings merely whipped on ; 

 the butts of the fibres fast- 

 ened down by being whip- 

 ped over in the direction 

 of the bend of the hook, 

 and the tips of the fibres 

 pointing away to the right. 

 You ask where do you get 



these fibres, and. what are they ? Simply a small 

 parcel of feathers cut or torn from the stem of 

 some appropriate feather, generally from that of the 

 wing of a small bird, the most common one being 

 the starling. These fibres are generally taken 

 from that side of the feather lying on the inner 

 part of the wing. They are longer, of a lighter 

 colour, and more transparent than the fibres 

 lying on the outer side of the wing, because 

 the latter are more exposed to atmospheric 

 action. Having cut or stripped your fibres in 

 sufficient quantities to form two wings, and 

 having made a^little bundle of them, their butt- 

 ends lying evenly, and not projecting the one 

 beyond the other, fasten the butt- ends down on 

 the top of the back of the hook, at the spot indi- 



