CHAP. VI.] TIIE SECOND DAY. 393 



Pise. You, perhaps, may think now that I rake together 

 this trumpery, as you call it, for show only ; to the end that 



drab ; fur of various shades gosling-green, cinnamon, dun, brown, 

 brownish-yellow, and mouse-colour ; feathers, for wings, of different 

 shades, from a dark brown to a bluish-gray, which may be got from the 

 cormorant, heron, bald-coot, starling, dotterel, field-fare, grouse, partridge, 

 kite, pheasant, owl, mallard, teal, pintado, turkey, jay (for salmon-flies), 

 tern, and martin. Peacock and ostrich feathers supply him with herls, 

 and those of the latter ma\y be dyed of any colour required. Hackles red, 

 black, and white, with a variety of intermediate shades are obtained from 

 the neck and from the wing-coverts of the common cock and hen. In fact, 

 there is scarcely a bird, from an eagle to a torn-tit, whose feathers may not 

 be of service to the angler. Even the light downy feather of a goose tied 

 on a hook, in the simplest fashion, has been sometimes used with success 

 in night-fishing. Bright scarlet hackles, which are mostly used in dressing 

 salmon-flies, may be obtained from any military acquaintance who shows a 

 tuft of red feathers in his plume. The topping or crest, which moves so 

 gracefully on the head of the lapwing, as he bobs about upon the fell, is 

 often recommended for the body of a fly ; but the herl of an ostrich answers 

 the purpose much better. Gut and hair-links, strong silk for whipping, of 

 different colours ; gold and silver tinsel, or twist, for ribbing ; with wax, 

 needles, penknife, and a pair of sharp-pointed scissors, are necessary 

 appendages to the dubbing-bag." To this extract may be added another 

 from SHIPLEY AND FITZGIBBON, a very sensible treatise on fly-fishing, 

 published at Ashborne in 1838. "MATERIALS. Silk of every shade and 

 colour, the finest, the strongest, and the best. Fibres from the wings of 

 the starling, fieldfare, blackbird, red-wing, lark, hen-pheasant, woodcock, 

 landrail, grouse, partridge, and twenty others ; and feathers of different 

 shades plucked from the body under the wing of the wild drake. 

 The scarcest and best hackles are duns of all shades, particu- 

 larly those which possess the clearest shades of blue ; furnace hackles, 

 which are of a red colour, with a black streak along the stem ; red 

 hackles, light and dark ginger, black and grizzled hackles. These are got 

 in the greatest perfection from oft" the upper part of the necks of cocks. 

 When dun hackles cannot be procured from cocks, you must use those 

 from dun hens ; which, however, from the softness of their fibre, are less 

 capable of resisting water. The best time for plucking dun birds is in the 

 middle of winter, the feathers being then perfect, and free from that 

 disagreeable matter which at other times is generally found in the pen-part 

 of the feather. Dun hackles, when plucked in March, and exposed to the 

 action of the sun's heat, assume a fine yellow tinge, and become that 

 useful feather called the yellow dun." We sum up with the elegant lines 

 of Gay : 



" To frame the little animal, provide 



All the gay hues that wait on female pride ; 



Let nature guide thee. Sometimes golden wire 



The shining bellies of the fly require ; 



The peacock's plumes thy tackle must not fail, 



Nor the dear purchase of the sable's tail. 



