Midge or Midgy 87 



upon its first two pairs of legs, and tilts the third pair up 

 behind ; while a midge rests upon the second and third 

 pairs, and waves the first pair in front of it. This peculi- 

 arity may be very conveniently studied on almost any 

 window-pane in summer, where representatives of both 

 groups are generally to be seen ; and is the origin of the 

 name Chironomus applied to midges, from the Greek signify- 

 ing " one who waves the hands." 



The name Midge, or Midgy, is of respectable antiquity, 

 differing but little from the original Saxon Miege, signifying 

 a small insect, a title that cannot be regarded as undeserved 

 when it is remembered that some of our British midges 

 measure no more than ^th of an inch in length, and that 

 the largest scarcely exceeds three-quarters of an inch. With 

 some of the smaller species, most people who spend the 

 summer evenings out of doors are only too familiar. It is, 

 perhaps, small consolation to know that, as with gnats, it is 

 only the female midge which bites us, but it helps us to com- 

 prehend how exceedingly numerous " midgies " are almost 

 everywhere. Those which are most troublesome to us are 

 chiefly terrestrial throughout their lives, spending their 

 larval state in decaying timber, and other refuse ; whence 

 their prevalence in those shady places which would be so 

 grateful to us in hot weather but for their presence. All 

 appear to be short-lived in their perfect, or winged state, 

 loving to dance away their little lives in the sun, and it 

 seems wonderful that so many of them should be found 

 abroad during the cold months of the year. Insect-eating 

 birds, however, require to be provided with food in winter 

 and summer alike, and one of the little party of Golden- 

 crested Wrens foraging among the fir trees yonder may 

 ever and anon be seen sallying out, in Flycatcher fashion, 

 after some midge that it has disturbed amongst the branches, 

 or which has danced too near the trees for its personal safety. 



On a summer afternoon " Midgies " may often be seen 

 dancing in such dense swarms as to give their columns a 

 resemblance to wreaths of smoke as they rise and fall above 

 the trees. The columns are swayed hither and thither by 

 any gentle breeze that blows, or may be temporarily dis- 



