Start the orange thread and lay two layers over the full shank; the thread is the body. A 140 denier builds it quickly but leaves a bigger head; 70 denier gives a neater head with more wraps. Bring the thread back to the front, leaving room for the thorax and hackle.
Tie in a single strand of Peacock herl and take 4-5 wraps for the thorax. Tie off and snip.
Pick an Emu, natural feather from the fuller part of the pack, avoiding the shaggy ones from the thin end. Strip the base and tie it in by the stem in front of the thorax with several firm wraps, since the stem is thick. Snip the excess stem.
Bring the thread up behind the eye and wrap the emu forward exactly as you would a dry-fly hackle, about one and a half to two turns. Err toward an extra turn: you can pluck barbs out later, but you cannot add them.
Snip the stem, sweep the barbs back like any hackle, and build the head.