A FAIRY FAUNA 61 



To return to the insects of the downs. Of these 

 flies thrust themselves most on our attention; it is, 

 in fact, impossible to overlook creatures that conduct 

 themselves in so wildly eccentric a manner. One big 

 yellow fly like a honey-bee comes directly at you with 

 a loud hostile hum or buzz, hovers for a few moments, 

 dashes away in a straight line, turns off at a tangent, 

 and, rushing back again, proceeds with extraordinary 

 velocity to describe curves and circles, parallel lines, 

 angles, and other geometric figures, in the air; and 

 finally drops down within a few inches of you, to 

 remain motionless as a fly carved out of a yellow pebble 

 until the impulse sends him off again. What his 

 motives are, what it all means, we are unable to guess ; 

 we can only conclude in our ignorance, judging from 

 appearances, that he is mad; that, in fact, the pro- 

 verbial March hare is a pre-eminently sane and sensible 

 creature in comparison. Somewhat of this light- 

 headedness is, I imagine, seen in most of the flies, 

 from the burliest bluebottle to the small gilded variety. 

 What would it be, I wonder, if these minute creatures 

 grew to the size of ducks and geese ? Our whole time 

 would be spent in watching their amazing, meaningless 

 antics ; nothing else would be talked or even thought 

 about in the world. In the end, we should become 

 strictly nocturnal, in order to be out of their way, or 

 else we should ourselves go mad in their company. 



The peculiarity of another species which is like a 

 house-fly in size and shape is in his colouring ; on his 



