Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-07-27


and Brushed for the Days Work.
I'm the quiet OF the early morning"
said the naturalist, 1.-THE h0usefiy
makes Its toilet, and II one wants to
see an interesting proceeding let him
watch the fy's busy hours Of the day
II is often seen to plume itself, but only
for an instant It's real toilet making
takes nearly quarter Of an hour.
1.-THE fly begins by brushing Its head
with the tarsi and tibiae Of its two
forelegs, In the manner so often noticed
when the insect rests for q moment
during the day. After a thorough
combing and brushing of the head and
rubbing of the face, the operation Is
carried on systematically from the
head down the left side, the two front
legs first being carefully rubbed and
dressed after the head cleansing. The
second leg on the left-hand side Is
then taken In hand, and. heldVeell for
ward, is thoroughly manipulated by the
tarsi and tibiae of the forelegs, which
means by the articulated feet and the
shin or front part of the legs. In the
cleansing Of this leg the fiy's proboscis
also plays an active part, supplying
moisture and distributing 1t. The Sec
Ond leg on that side being satisfactor-
lily massaged and manicured, the left
hind legs are next In line for treatment.
The dressing of these is done by the
leg just manipulated, one at time.
The fly brushes and rubs with this leg,
frequently passing 1t forward to have
1t cleased In turn by the fOrelegs, and
moistened by the proboscis. In this
thorough preparation for the duties Of
the day the fly pays particular atten-
ton to cleansing or manipulating the
tarsi, as If 1t was of the utmost i'm
pOrtance that they should be free from
all obstruction.
"As soon as the left hind legs are in
n condition satisfactory to the fly, they
in turn are brought into service as
toilet brushes. They alone are used
In brushing the under surface Of the
wings. While doing this the legs are
passed forward after every few
strokes, to be In turn cleanscd by the
leg in front Of them Of whatever for
eign substances they removed from
the wings. The cleaning of the under
surface and the fore edges of the
wings being finished, the fly starts in
to do up its right side. It's head, hav-
ing been shampooed at the beginning.
needs no more attention, but the front
legs and feet have another overhauling
before work is resumed. The only
thing to do on the right side, though,
Is to massage and manicure the sec
Ond leg on that side, and for some
reason this is done more lightly
and apparently less thoroughly than in
the case Of the companion leg on the
left side. After 1t is done what seems
to be the most important part of the
entire proceeding is performed. This
Is the dressing Of the upper surface of
the wings This is done by drawing
them longitudinally many times be-
tween the two hind legs, which are
frequently manipulated during the
operation by both the right and left
second leg, to which the proboscis con-
tributes of whatever 1t possesses of use
in the manipulation. When this treat
ment Of the wings is completed they
glisten like polished silver. During the
manipulation of the wings, particular
attention seems to be paid by the fly
to their front edges, as they are gone
over carefully several times in the
brushing of both the under and upper
surface. The dressing of the wings
finished, the fly gives a sort of self
congratulatory dab or two to its face
with its forefeet, and buzzes away,
ready for feast or for fun on a bald
head."-New York Sun.