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NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA 



,A^ 



The Pond 



ESIDE the open woods in the meadow 

 we have paused at the pond to witness 

 tlie myriads of aquatic plants and animals. 

 How much is sujigested in that swampy 

 odor exhaling from the decayinji lemna in the heat 

 of tlie July day! Wnturinj; out from under the shade of the 

 trees, one finds the alert dragon-flies are sweeping here and 

 there over this haven of life. On watching them intently, 

 one sees that this apparently aimless flight is for the purpose 

 of catching the small winged insects, which are either in- 

 stantly devoured or carried to the dragon-fly posts at the 

 tops of the last year's dead reed stalks that here and there 

 have weathered the elements. Or, perchance, one of these 

 insects has sped down to the water's surface, where she has 

 momentarily dipped her body to release an egg. 



What country hoy is not familiar with the flying monarch, 

 Anax, or the "snake doctor," which goes to and fro in mid-air 

 with glimmering wings, at one moment playing hide-and-seek 

 above the herbage at the border of the pond, and in the next 

 moment swinging out over the open surface. 



The timid boy who has superstitions respecting these harm- 

 less aviators in the sunshine may have lost heart; but the 

 one more courageous is often invited to a merry chase by a 

 bold dash near his head of one of the less wary. He must 



