I was reading Trout Tactics by Joe Humphrey's again. On page 139 there is a photo of what Joe refers to as the three hackle dry fly. Three hackles from a rooster cape. He mentioned the third hackle has the largest amount of hackle fibers removed from the bare stem in order to brace the first two hackles. The verbal description of the procedure is written on pages 140-141

Have you tied a three hackle fly? If so, I'd really love to see the tying sequence if you have the tools and opportunity to make it happen!

The hackling procedure has that "coolness" surrounding it. I love seeing old flies, reading why and how they were developed. Makes me smile. Even in this age of every increasing synthetics, I find myself drifting backwards in time...

Jeff