THE MOST KILLING FLIES. 85 



will make body for five or six gross of flies of all 

 colours, from dingy white to dark black, but the 

 mixed dark fur is the best. The fur of the water- 

 rat is also serviceable to the fly-dresser, and is pecu- 

 liarly suitable for small flies. The three following 

 are the winged flies to which we are most partial : 



1st. A woodcock wing with a single turn of a 

 red hackle, or landrail feather, dressed with yellow 

 silk, freely exposed on the body. For fishing in 

 dark-coloured waters, this fly may be dressed with 

 scarlet thread. 



2d. A hare-lug body, with a corn-bunting or'/)' 

 chaffinch wing. A woodcock wing may also be put \s\fe<//Lt 

 the same body, but should be made of the small lig] 

 coloured feather taken from the inside of the wing. 



3d. The same wing as the last fly, with a single*" 

 turn of a soft black hen-hackle, or small feather uf(f- 

 taken from the shoulder of the starling, dressed^^tjl. 

 with dark-coloured silk./^y^ ^ . 



An immense number of killing flies may be 

 made by varying the wings and body, but nothing 

 is gained by extending the number beyond those 

 just mentioned, and we do not believe six more kill- 

 ing imitations can be manufactured/ We have fished 

 with flies of all kinds, and got flies from several of 

 the best anglers, both amateur and professional, but 

 have never found anything superior to these, and 

 we can recommend them with great confidence. 



For fly- dressing, in addition to the feathers, etc., 

 just mentioned, a number of miscellaneous articles 



