FLY- MAKING. 425 



or floss silk, or the fur of some animal; or ravellings of 

 moreen — an article used to cover the cushions of chairs or 

 pews, or for curtains. The hurls, or as some call them the 

 "harls," of the peacock's tail-feathers, or of ostrich plumes, 

 are also extensively used for the bodies of Trout-flies. Hurls 

 are the long delicate plumelets that grow on each side of the 

 main stem of the feather. Mohair, seal's wool, pig's wool (or 

 pig's down as it is frequently called), and floss-silk, which are 

 chiefly used for Salmon-flies, should be of vario\is colors. 

 Those mostly used are light-red, blood-red, dark-red, and 

 maroon ; snuff-brown and dark-brown ; pale-yellow or lemon- 

 color, bright decided yellow, orange, and tawny yellow; light 

 blue and steel or mazarine blue ; decided green aiid pea- 

 green ; white, lead-color, and black. Wool should never be 

 used for dubbing, as it absorbs much water and makes the 

 fly soggy. I seldom use mohair, pig's wool, or seal's wool for 

 Trout-flies (they are better for Salmon-flies, seal's wool being 

 preferable), and as far as I can, discard fur, as a dubbing, and 

 use chiefly the ravellings of moreens, flosses, and hurls. Of 

 the peacock's hurl, the copper-colored tint is greatly to be 

 preferred ; three-fourths of the bodies of the Trout-flies I make 

 for my own use are wrapped with it. 



Mohair, pig's wool, and seal's wool, when the fly-maker 

 wants them already dyed, must be imported from England 

 and Ireland. Fur-dubbing, flosses, and hurls, can easily be 

 obtained here. If the reader wishes to try his hand at dyeing 

 dubbing, he will find receipts in the preceding chapter. 



Hackles. — The word "hackle" is used in two senses; 

 when spoken of as a material, it is that which represents the 

 legs of the winged fly, and is wound around the body 

 under the wings, or spirally over the body from the tail. 

 The word is also used to designate the hairy-looking repre- 

 sentation of an insect, or caterpillar, or other larva, and with 



