The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-06-16

lrhVh INC Deildst JOuinal.l
While on the subject of birds, it is no moro
than right that we should say few words
with regard to the mosquito; and we propose
to give him the benefit of a little puff for
which no charge will be made.
Mosquitoes vary in size as much as pota--
toes, but average well in this region. They
are built on the same plan Of the elephant
(only triae smaller) having pleEty of legs,
bob tail, with trunk or bill on the front Of
them. Their body is all stomach, and their
trunk is SUCTION pump, gimblet pointed, and
hard as,Damascus steel. They are bird of
song, although Audubon classes them strictly
as game bird, but he was liable to mistakes
as well as the telegraph. In these parts they
go wild, while in some states they are utilized
for labor. In some parts of New Jersey,
where the soil is so thin that horses and oxen
cannot be worked with safety lest they break
through, they are used for farm purposes,
three pair oi full blood Jersey mosquitoes be-
ing considered equal TO atandem team OF two
geese, or one middliEg sized goat. We know
this to be fact, having frequently seen the
farmers there plowing and doing other work
with all of the above named labor saving ma
Chimes
DOWn Ooutu, WHICH NcSoCt 10 icduy
planking, the planks are laid on to the tim
bers and a little blood rubbed on to the inside
Of them, when the mosquito will sting thro'
| the plank and timber, and the men inside will
| rivet up their bills and thus save bolts and
treenails. A well built vessel, mosquito fas-
tened, is considered a first class job.
Mosquitoes round in these parts are triile
smaller than a humming bird, and as musical
| as sewiDg-machne. There are more pleas
L mnmAnfg q anfo f,on in
| which he lies in bed on a sultry night, and
listens to the mosquitoes warbling in the dis
| tance, and hears them1approaching his bed
humming over the familiar song of "Fe fl, 10,
| fun, smell the blood of an Englishman," ("
and know that he is the person meant. He
l does not take hold of much solid comfort, as
l about dozen OF them light on him with n
"ziz," set their drills and commence boring
for his blood. He can't drive them away; he
can't get away himself.
"He may slat round and swear as much as he will,
But the pesky mosquito will lipger there still"
For real pleasure, we would prefer sleeping
in beehive, TO undertaking to bottle up
/ sleep in the midst of a swarm of mosquitoes,
| In this connection we cannot help quoting
those lines OF DIR. Watts commencing
rwhen we've tried all the week to be good
How pleasant on Saturday night,
/ To st up till morning in bed,
| The conf0uDded mosquitoes to fight"
A mosquitoes stomach will stretch like a
| government contractors conscience. A com-
mon sized "skeet" will hold half pint of
blood, and when person is victimized by Il
swarm OF hundred thousand or SO. tappin.;
MN In different places, it is easy to see that
there is quite drain on his system,
AS songsters, they are equal if not superior
10 the mule or shanghai. We heard of A
chap who, on entering bis room in boardr ?
mouse in Brooklyn, heard some one singing,
and on lighting the gas, he espied a mosquito
sitting on match and sailing round in the
| wash-bowl, singing "a life on the Ocean
Wave"-but that was an exceptional case.
We shall not attempt joke on the mosqui-
to's bill, as that subject has been handled
about as mnch as it will be, and we don's
know that we owe them anything, as it is al.
ways our intention to cancel our account az
| the time.
| II there is one satisfaction that is at least
ten feet ahead of any other satisfaction. is Ia
| enter your sleeping room, and see gang of
mosquitoes lounging round on the window
sills and chairs, and to then and there dis
robe. crawl into bed, beneath a good bar, lie
there and hear them cuss and swear outsda
the net. We consider that the most satisiac-
tory thing 1t is possible to conceive. And
whiie we are mentioning the thing, we would
suggest the arranging OF mosquito bars and
nels In the windows, as we can never tell
when we are liable to have the itch or be fa-
vored with mosquitoes. There are peopla
who consider that mosquitoes are made in
vain, but to our minds, if nature ever got up
anything that was perfect success, it was
when the mosquito was produced. Ii they
| were made Tor anything il was to bite, ana as
| bitest we would like 10 see ones equal
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