30 The Book of Hugs. 



ous demonstration," that, however much it may look like 

 M. domestica with a soft proboscis, it is by no means the 

 same sort of fly. 



Third in the order of abundance is the cluster-fly. It 

 is somewh? 4 - larger than the domestic fly, and has a dark, 



smooth abdomen. Never so active as 

 the others, in the fall it is very slug- 

 gish, and gets stuck fast in its own 

 glue, perishing in a white efflorescence 

 of Empnsa, and decorating the win- 

 dows in a cheerful manner. Next in 

 Fi g . 5 .cystoneura numbers comes another stable-fly, 

 stabnians, stable-fly, whose personal friends and acquaint- 

 ances are few, and then the so-called 

 blue-bottle or blow-fly, whose sense of smell is so acute 

 as to lead it unerringly to where the cold meat has 

 been put away. This dear little creature in blue satin 

 brings forth its young alive and imbued with strong prej- 

 udices against vegetarian principles. It is of record 

 that toads have made hearty meals on blue-bottles only to 

 perish miserably, the children avenging the death of their 

 parent without waiting for the slayer to die. I can 

 imagine the last words of Mamma Blue-bottle as the 

 toad's tongue nailed her: " I die happy. I am avenged, 

 and my children are provided for." How she must 

 chuckle at the joke ! 



There are the green-bottles, comparatively scarce, and 

 last in the list a paler creature, more pointed in the body, 

 with large, translucent spots on the abdomen, through 

 which the light shines. They are rather smaller than the 

 standard house-fly, but size is not a criterion of family, 

 nor is it a guarantee of youth. When a fly arrives at the 

 stage where it deserves its name it is as large as it ever 

 will be. Little flies are only the last of the batch, and, 



