FLY 



2235 



FLYING FISH 



flies would feed through the whole two weeks 

 without getting caught. The "catch" may' be 

 quickly killed by immersion in boiling water, 

 or by fumigation with sulphur. Humane meth- 

 ods should be employed, even with flies. 



Traps may be bought at a reasonable price, 

 or they may be constructed at home still 

 more cheaply. Any box or xther receptacle of 

 transparent material, provided with a crack at 

 the bottom and baited with banana peel, sugar 

 and vinegar, meat or other food attractive to 

 flies, will serve the purpose. One point must 

 be borne in mind the crack at the bottom 

 must not be too wide, or the flies will crawl 

 out after they have fed and then proceed to 

 lay their eggs. The crack should never be 

 more than a quarter of an inch in width and 

 should open up toward the bait and not down, 

 as flies show a strong tendency to crawl up- 

 ward toward the light. 



Summary. It may sound at first somewhat 

 visionary this campaign which has as its aim 

 to "get the last one" but it has been proved 

 to be sane and practical. Small towns have rid 

 themselves almost completely of the pests; 

 big cities have done such effective work that 

 in the huge public markets no more than half 

 a dozen flies may be found at one time; and 

 neighborhoods have won for themselves relief 

 from the nuisance when other parts of the city 

 have swarmed with flies. These insects do not 

 travel great distances, and a neighborhood 

 campaign will be effective even though the 

 town as a whole does not take up the work. 

 It can be done that much is certain; but it 

 will be done only when the people are con- 

 vinced of the absolute necessity. When a 

 housewife begins to feel that it is a disgrace, 

 a sure sign of untidiness and careless house- 

 keeping to have even one fly about; when the 

 storekeeper or dairyman is made to realize 

 that he is looked upon as a spreader of dis- 

 ease if he does not protect his products; when 

 a community really appreciates the fact that 

 not only unpleasantness but sickness and death 

 result from the presence of flies then, and not 

 till then, the campaign will be undertaken in 

 earnest. The United States Department of 

 Agriculture has shown an active interest in the 

 problem and has for distribution bulletins 

 which discuss the fly in all its phases, suggest- 

 ing effective means of combating the danger 

 the fly creates. W.A.E. 



Consult Cragin's Our Insect Friends and Foes ; 

 Comstock's Insect Life; Ross's The Reduction of 

 Domestic Flies. 



FLYCATCHER, a large family of songless, 

 perching birds including about 400 species 

 which are most abundant in the tropics, al- 

 through thirty species live in the United States. 

 They received their name from the fact that, 

 sitting on a favorable perch, they watch in- 

 tently for passing insects and dart at them, 

 clicking their bills as they catch their vic- 

 tims. They rarely miss seizing their prey, 

 and as the insects serve as their main food 

 they are forced to migrate in search of them, 

 the phoebe being the only eastern species to 

 winter in the United States. The Acadian 

 flycatcher, wood pewee, crested flycatcher and 

 kingbird belong in this family, but the so- 

 called Old World flycatchers belong to another 

 group. 



FLYING DUTCHMAN. In popular legend, a 

 sea captain to whom was meted out a peculiar 

 punishment. He swore, during a violent storm, 

 that he would round the Cape of Good Hope 

 if it took him until the Judgment Day, and in 

 punishment he was forced to sail those seas in 

 a phantom ship forever and ever. 



FLYING FISH, an interesting fish which, to 

 escape attacks of other fish, has the power of 

 keeping itself in the air for a short time by 

 means of large fins. In all warm seas flying 

 fish are found, and in the air they look like 



FLYING FISH 



giant dragon flies. The North Atlantic flying 

 fish is among the best-known species; it was 

 so named because first known in that ocean, 

 but now it is common in all tropical seas. 

 Great schools of these fish greet vessels nfear 

 the Hawaiian Islands. The great flying fish, 

 measuring eighteen inches in length, is found 

 near California, and being a good food fish 

 is caught by the thousands in the vicinity of 

 Santa Barbara. The sharp-nosed flying fish is 

 found around Central America. 



