264 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



so as to leave enough for a good thick brush from the head. 

 If in winding on the hackle, any of the red hackle fibres under 

 it be wound in, they must be picked out afterwards with the 

 needle, and put in their proper position. At the shoulder, a 

 teal hackle of course. Wings, two strips of silver-grey mottled 

 turkey (the small mottled feather) ; these feathers are not 

 easy to get. When this fly is finished, and before it is properly 

 pressed down into shape, it looks like an enormous spider, or 

 daddy longlegs ; it certainly is a monstrosity, though, after all, 

 not such a monstrosity as 



The Eagle. There are two Eagles, the grey and yellow. 

 The yellow is simply the same feather as the grey, only dyed 

 of a bright canary yellow ; indeed, I believe, in the evening, 

 the " yalley aigle " is the favourite, and is the more effective 

 fly of the two. The tail, body, etc., are precisely similar to 

 those of the gled wing ; a quantity of the down or fluffy part 

 of the golden eagle's feather the part on and above the thigh 

 is, I fancy, the best is then wound on like a hackle, till the fly 

 looks like the butt end of a largish eagle's feather itself; on 

 the shoulder is of course the invariable teal hackle ; wings, 

 two broadish strips of silver grey turkey ; the large mottled 

 or broad striped and banded feather being selected. 



The above are local flies, but a claret body and hackle, with 

 mixed wings of long brown turkey, argus, and bustard feathers, 

 with a gold pheasant sword feather in the midst, does well also, 

 as does the black body and silver tinsel, with gallina shoulder 

 and mixed wing. 



Most of these flies are from Mr. Brown's patterns, the well- 

 known tackle maker of Aberdeen, the inventor of the phantom 

 minnow. He dresses them as few others can. 



THE DON 



The Don debouches a very short distance from the Dee, 

 but no two rivers can well be more dissimilar. The Dee running 

 through the wildest moorland and mountain scenery, and hav- 

 ing no trout in it worth notice, and the Don running through 

 beautiful pastoral and well tilled districts, and looking more 

 like a Hampshire than a Highland salmon stream, and con- 

 taining perhaps as fine trout as any river in Scotland. Yet the 

 salmon seem to like very similar flies ; a small reduction in 

 point of size being made. The Don flies are not so large as 

 those for the Aberdeen Dee, though after the same fashion. 



