312 Forty-sixth Report on the State Museum 



the chinch-l)iig-, large clusters of the fly were seen in the corners of the 

 walls and ceiling of a second floor bedroom of the farm house that I 

 occupied. They were in irregular black masses, each consisting of 

 several hundreds of individuals. A few were found to have hidden 

 away within the bedding. The weather at the time Avas quite cold, 

 and frosts prevailed during the nights. 



A Pest in a House at Palenville, N. Y. 



Last spring, about the middle of April, a lady brought to me 



examples of Hies taken in her house at Palenville, Greene Co., N. Y., 



where they were abounding in most disagreeable numbers. They were 



found in every room, and all her eiforts to destroy or eject them had 



been fruitless. They were recognized as the cluster fly, and pyrethrum 



powder was recoumieuded for killing them. The powder was used 



after the mannei- dii-ected, and proved entirely effective. Dustpanfuls, 



as I was afterwards informed, of their dead bodies were swept up and 



burned. 



Another Spring Appearance of the Fly. 



A number of years ago — somewhere about 1875 — when residing in 

 Schenectady, N. Y., upon returning from church one morning, the 

 windows of a ground-floor front room with a sunny exposure, were 

 found to be so thickh' dotted with flies as to arrest the attention of 

 passers-by. They were ejected by brushing from the panes as speedily 

 as possible, without examination; but recalling their features and 

 movements, it is hardly possible that they could have been any other 

 species than this Pollenia. At that time it was unknown to us by name. 



Its Entrance in Dwellings and Departure. 



It would appear, fj'om this and the preceding account, to be the 

 habit of the fly, to emerge in company from their winter- retreat on 

 some warm day in early sj^ring, unlike their method of entering in 

 the autumn, when they steal in singly, one by one, even with closed 

 windows and doors, and during successive weeks or months. 



Since first observing the fl}^ a few years ago, it has been a regular 

 visitant to my oftice on the fourth floor of the Capitol. It does not 

 collect in clusters, but each year in October and I^ovember, individuals 

 to the number, perhaps, of from thirty to fifty may be seen resting on, 

 or slowly walking over, the lower portion of the window frame or pane. 

 Several specimens in the State Collection bear the late date of Decem- 

 ber 3d. Referring to my notes of the present year, I find: " Sejitember 

 29th, a number of Pollenia rudis on the window of m^^ office." A few 

 individuals had been seen some davs earlier. 



