FLIES. 209 



defining what flies we mean. There is, however, a " very 

 large division," as Miss Ormerod tells us, of the Diptera, or 

 two-winged flies, all the species of which are more or less like 

 a common house-fly. That the fly which torments sheep is 

 precisely the same as the fly which crawls up our window panes, 

 or torments our cooks in our kitchens, we may be sure is not 

 the case. There is no doubt that insects which take up their 

 abode in houses become in a measure domesticated, and hence 

 the musca domestic* of our houses varies considerably from the 

 woodside hordes which appear to live for the sake of perse- 

 cuting their fellow creatures, but doubtless, and in fact, as we 

 know, have their uses in the economy of Nature. It is probable 

 that if the swarm which has settled upon the head of a devoted 

 sheep were examined by an entomologist he would easily iden- 

 tify several species, all, however, very much alike. They are 

 of the size and sombre hues of the house-fly, they are thick in 

 the body, short in the proboscis, active on the wing, and we 

 all know them as " flies." Buzzing around the tails, settling 

 on the dung, and busily looking round for a place " where she 

 may (literally) lay her young," are various forms of those 

 larger and even more offensive creatures, the meat flies or blue- 

 bottles, or bronze-coloured sisters, cousins and aunts of the 

 same. These creatures, which are the horror of the pedestrian, 

 the horseman and the shepherd, need no very special descrip- 

 tion. They are associated with bright sunshine and intense 

 heat, with country lanes flanked by woods, with pastures 

 especially bordering on plantations, but less with open downs. 

 These creatures affect sheep at two vulnerable points the 

 head and the tail and a few remarks upon them will be 

 useful to breeders. So far as the head is concerned, we 

 know from experience that the victims are principally the more 

 or less bare-headed races of sheep. The Cheviot upon 

 Lammermuir, or its native hills, the Border-Leicester, the 

 Leicester, and the various Leicester- Cheviot crosses occur to 

 us as particularly susceptible to this form of annoyance. The 

 Down breeds are less affected, and, speaking from some experi- 

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