78 LIVING CREATURES. 



his bill unfold, and the knob on the end of it divide 

 and spread out flat ; have seen his feelers reaching 

 forward from his head, his two round eyes, his two 

 wings, and six legs. 



Now Musca is through with the mucilage, and be- 

 gins a droll performance. The fore legs are rubbed 

 together, in the most lively manner, to clean away the 

 gum and dust that stick to them, I suppose. He bal- 

 ances himself on the middle pair, and rubs the hind 

 legs in the same way. Again he comes to the fore 

 legs, and I discover something that reminds me of the 

 cat. He touches his legs to his lips, which are one 

 with his tongue, and with them washes his face. 



I am through with you now ; you can go, little 

 Musca. I shall not injure you. There come to my 

 mind the words of kind-hearted Uncle Toby, when he 

 opened the window to let out one of your foreign an- 

 cestors : " Get thee gone," he said ; "for why should 

 I harm thee? Is not the world big enough for both 

 thee and me?'* 



Having gathered all the facts my eyes can reach, I 

 will now turn to books to ascertain whether some other 

 one has seen more than I have, and whether I have 

 seen correctly. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 

 which contains much information besides definitions, 

 says the fly is a "winged insect." The winged feat- 

 ure is very clear, for on Musca's back I saw two gauzy 

 wings with bronze and purple tints. Turn now to 

 "insect." This is a name given to certain small ani- 

 mals whose bodies appear cut in, or almost "di- 

 vided " so the great book says. 



This knowledge is helpful. The fly did appear ' 'cut 



