Life- History. 25 



colouring is assumed, and the Dragonfly is read}- to 

 wander to and fro abo\c the streams and ponds, there 

 to hawk for its prey and to seek for, or be sought by, 

 its mate, reminding us of Tenn\-son's exquisite hnes in 

 the " Two Voices " : 



"To-day I saw the Dragonfly 

 Come from the wells where he did lie. 



" An inner impnlse rent the veil 

 Of his old husk ; from head to tail 

 Came out clear plates of sapphire mail. 



"He dried his wings: like yauze they grew; 

 Thro' crofts and pastures wet with dew 

 A living flash of light he flew." 



Soon the serious business of life — that of reproducing 

 the species — is entered upon, and usualh' in about three 

 months — sometimes less, sometimes a little more — the 

 Dragonfly's life is ended. There is, howe\er, a small 

 brown Dragonfl}-, Synipycna fiisca, found on the Con- 

 tinent of Europe, but not so far discovered in Britain, and 

 probabl)' not to be found here, which winters in the 

 perfect form, when the weather is not too se\ere, hiding 

 in the heather, and coming out in the winter sunshine to 

 remind us of the summer that is gone, and to be an 

 earnest of that which is to come. 



are quite mature in appearance. The inference would seem to be that 

 " maturity " is caused by usl\ not merely by ai^c or exposure. All four 

 wings must have been equal in age and exposure, but only the three 

 uninjured ones had had actual use. 



