CASES OF ADAPTATIO:^ 



149 



dant in Ireland, where it 

 is said to be found in 

 every bog and marsh. 

 On the Siberian tundra 

 it no doubt feeds largely 

 on the abundant berries, 

 but also, of course, on 

 the food it finds in 

 swamps and river-mar- 



gms. 



Coming back to our 

 more special subject of 

 the mosquitoes, Mr. See- 

 bohm writes as follows. 

 After describing some of 

 his early excursions after 

 birds or their nests he 

 adds: 



Fig. 15. — Mr. Seebohm in his Mosquito 



Veil. 



" That day (June 2nd) I recorded in my journal, with many 

 groans, the arrival of the mosquitoes. Horrid-looking beasts, with 

 bodies a third of an inch long, monsters, the Culex damnabilis of 

 Eae, with proboscis infernali veneno inunita. I foresaw that we 

 should have opportunities enough to study the natural history of 

 these blood-thirsty creatures to our heart's discontent." 



About a month later he writes when searching for eggs, 

 properly identified : 



" Doubtless the proper thing to have done would have been to 

 lie down and watch the birds on to their nests; but to become tlie 

 nucleus of a vast nebula of mosquitoes is so tormenting to the 

 nerves, that we soon came to the conclusion that the birds had not 

 begun to breed, and that it was no use martyrising ourselves to find 

 their eggs. The mosquitoes were simply a plague. Our hats were 

 covered with them; they swarmed upon our veils; they lined with 

 a fringe the branches of the dwarf birches and willows; they cov- 

 ered the tundra with a mist." 



