88 HAULS, WINGS, HACKLES. 



or quadruped, particularly the smaller sorts, that 

 does not contribute to the fly-dresser's magazine. 

 The fly-dresser who is a good judge of colour has 

 an immense advantage over him who is not. He 

 will find many excellent coloured materials where 

 the bad judge would never think of looking for 

 them. 



Feathers are obtained, remarks Mr. Elaine, 

 from nearly every bird, from the gigantic ostrich 

 down to the Lilliputian wren. Nothing can be 

 commoner for making flies than the ostrich harl, or 

 the individual fibres of some of the plumes of that 

 bird, dyed variously. Peacock harls, or single fibres 

 of its largest feathers, are still more common for 

 the bodies of flies. The wings of small flies are 

 made of the wing feathers of the starling, lark, land- 

 rail, hen pheasant, partridge, woodcock, plover, 

 snipe, dotterel, sea-swallow, sea-gull, wild-duck, 

 teal, water-hen, domestic hen, and many other 

 birds. The torn-tit's tail affords an excellent blue 

 feather for wings and hackle. Foreign birds 

 afford an infinite variety of feathers for gaudy 

 flies. 



Hackle feathers are very valuable, and, as Mr. 

 Elaine says, " they are generally those which deck 

 the neck and rump of the cock. Such hackles 

 only should be chosen as have fibres about half an 

 inch long, and those from the game fowl are to be 

 preferred. The principal colours are white, black, 



