... their masters' hunters, peering over their pummels at a mounted horse in the distance before them and anxiously discussing his identity. Just as I was passing the disputants, the one turned to the other and said, "I shall lay yer three threepenny gins to one as it's Colonel's rat-tailed 'oss." ... — The Bed-Book of Happiness • Harold Begbie
... flies are the drone-flies (Eristalis), often seen hovering over flowers, and presenting a curious likeness to hairy bees. The larva of Eristalis is one of the most remarkable in the whole order, the 'Rat-tailed maggot' found in the stagnant water of ditches and pools. It has a cylindrical body with the hinder end drawn out into a long telescopic tube, a more slender terminal section being capable of withdrawal into, or protrusion from, a thicker basal portion. At the extremity ... — The Life-Story of Insects • Geo. H. Carpenter
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