NATURAL HISTORY PAPERS. 105 



them fed so regularly from the table that they were as 

 tame as the domestic chickens. Sometimes they would 

 pick crumbs out of the hands of a little child, and would 

 allow the child to carry them about the room in its hands 

 without being alarmed. I once sat at the window of my 

 study, and saw the little sparrow (more industrious than 

 myself) , watching my potato-vines, and clearing them from 

 insects, for its own food and that of its young. It often 

 builds its nest in shrul:)s and Inishcs cultivated near our 

 dwellings. It is known by the name, Hair-Bird, from 

 lining its nest with hair. It often builds by the side of 

 the robin on the same bush. 



Natural IliMonj Papers. By Hiram A. Cutting, A. M., 

 M. D. Lunenburgh, Vt. 



Order,— APHANIPTEEA. {Dana.) 

 APTERA. (Lemark.) 

 SUCTORIA. (Dec/eer.) 



F'amily, — Pulicid^e. 



PuLEX iRRiTANS. — To this ordcr of wingless insects, 

 belong the Jlea and loiifie; they are natives of all coun- 

 tries. In this article I shall speak only of the single fam- 

 ily of Pulicidte, of which the connnon ilea (PuJex irritans) 

 is the leading type. The body of this insect is of an oval 

 form, somewhat flattened, covered with a hard skin, ofi a 

 brilliant chestnut l)r()wn color, more or less covered witli 

 bristles, arranged in roAVS. Its mouth is suctorial and is 

 composed of a complete apparatus both for inflicting 

 wounds and for sucking l)lood into its stomach. 



The Pulicidoa are all small insects, yet their anatomy is 

 well known. The mouth is composed of seven pieces. 



