THE LANDING. 243 



and immediately transfix the trout by inserting his pro- 

 boscis or bill into the brain of the fish, which seemed in- 

 capable of escaping. The mosquito would hold his vic- 

 tim steady until he had extracted all the life juices, and 

 when this was accomplished, and he flew away, the dead 

 trout would turn over on his back and float down the 

 stream." 



It was early in September when I read the above, 

 and I straightway took my stand on the bank of Faxon's 

 Brook, then teeming with young cyprinoids,to see if such 

 attacks were made upon these fish by our mosquitoes. 

 The conditions were all favorable, but not a minnow 

 was molested. I did find, however, in a sink-hole in an 

 upland field, that these " striped-stockings " occasionally 

 settled upon the tadpoles there, and puncturing the tail, 

 caused it to bleed and often to swell and become con- 

 gested. The water in the sink-hole was very shallow, 

 and the tadpoles — of Rana clamitans, probably — were 

 often put to it to keep wholly submerged. It is not at 

 all improbable, I think, that under certain circumstances 

 numbers of very small fish are destroyed in the manner 

 described; for I find frequent reference in my note- 

 books to the occurrence of quantities of dead young 

 fish, the cause of the mortality among which I was un- 

 able to ascertain. Now it is no uncommon sight to see 

 the surface of the water thickly dotted with the pro- 

 jecting snouts and even heads of small fishes, and such 

 an occasion would afford excellent opportunity for the 

 mosquitoes to attack them. 



A peculiarly angry buzzing in the grass near by soon 



