CHAPTERXTHEGREYFLESHFLIES
Herethecostumechanges，notthemanneroflife。Wefindthesamefrequentingofdeadbodies，thesamecapacityforthespeedyliquefactionofthefleshymatter。Iamspeakingofanash—grayfly，thegreenbottle’ssuperiorinsize，withbrownstreaksonherbackandsilvergleamsonherabdomen。Notealsotheblood—redeyes，withthehardlookoftheknackerinthem。ThelanguageofscienceknowsherasSarcophaga，theflesheater;inthevulgartonguesheisthegreyfleshfly，orsimplythefleshfly。
Letnottheseexpressions，howeveraccurate，misleadusintobelievingforamomentthattheSarcophagaearetheboldcompanyofmastertainterswhohauntourdwellings，moreparticularlyinautumn，andplanttheirvermininourill—guardedviands。TheauthorofthoseoffencesisCalliphoravomitoria，thebluebottle，whoisofastouterbuildandarrayedindarkestblue。Itisshewhobuzzesagainstourwindowpanes，whocraftilybesiegesthemeatsafeandwholiesinwaitinthedarknessforanopportunitytooutwitourvigilance。Theother，thegreyfly，worksjointlywiththegreenbottles，whodonotventureinsideourhousesandwhoworkinthesunlight。Lesstimid，however，thanthey，shouldtheoutdooryieldbesmall，shewillsometimescomeindoorstoperpetratehervillainies。Whenherbusinessisdone，shemakesoffasfastasshecan，forshedoesnotfeelathomewithus。
Atthismoment，mystudy，averymodestextensionofmyopenairestablishments，hasbecomesomethingofacharnelhouse。Thegreyflypaysmeavisit。IfIlayapieceofbutcher’smeatonthewindowsill，shehastensup，worksherwillonitandretires。Nohidingplaceescapeshernoticeamongthejars，cups，glassesandreceptaclesofeverykindwithwhichmyshelvesarecrowded。
Withaviewtocertainexperiments，Icollectedaheapofwaspgrubs，asphyxiatedintheirundergroundnests。Stealthilyshearrives，discoversthefatpileand，hailingastreasuretrovethisprovenderwhereofherraceperhapshasnevermadeusebefore，entruststoitaninstallmentofherfamily。Ihaveleftatthebottomofaglassthebestpartofahard—boiledeggfromwhichI