June, I9-I4-] WoODRUFF : DrAGONFLIES OF A CONNECTICUT BrOOK. 155 



For these reasons I shall present a few brief notes of an after- 

 noon's observations on a little brook at Litchfield made on the last 

 day of June, 19 13. 



This town is situated in the northwestern corner of the state, in 

 the so-called Berkshire Hills region, with a fauna and flora decidedly 

 Alleghanian ; but now and again indications are met of a southward 

 extension of the Canadian. Especially is this true as respects the 

 plant life and the birds, to which more particular attention has been 

 given by the writer ; but the insect fauna likewise shows a tendency 

 toward the characteristics of more boreal conditions. With this sug- 

 gestive preface of what the cold waters of this hilly country may 

 offer, the subject of my paper must now be introduced. 



A typical New England mountain brook comes tumbling down 

 over the stones through a thickly wooded valley just north of the 

 town. ^Meeting the village hill it veers to the east, there to be 

 arrested by a dam to form a small mill-pond; then, liberated again, it 

 sweeps on around the foot of the village and empties into a larger 

 pond. Its flow from this continues, and of differing character ; but 

 we have to do now only with an eighth of a mile of its course 

 between the heavily wooded, steep-sided hog-back hills. The woods 

 are of oak, chestnut, beech and birch, with an occasional red elder and 

 frequent hemlocks, while great masses of laurel in full bloom bank 

 the brook in a glory of pink and white. On either side ring out the 

 nuptial songs of northern warblers, such as the Black-throated Blue 

 and the Canadian Warbler, with others more to be expected, all busily 

 engaged in the duties and joys of raising their broods ; and into the 

 sunlit spaces over the water, which one must perforce wade, dart in- 

 frequent dragonflies, teasing the eyes to follow them through the in- 

 tervening shadows. One's attention is caught by one of these of 

 unfamiliar aspect, evidently an Agrion, skimming hither and thither 

 close to the ripples. Its flight too is peculiar, not after the manner of 

 'A. maculatum, slowly fluttering in an aimless way among the verdure 

 along the banks, nor even of the more active A. (cquahile, also present 

 in some numbers, but suggesting more the hunting tactics of a 

 Gomphine, even to the frequent alighting for rest on the mid-stream 

 stones. It proves to be ^. amatinn, Hagen, described from New Hamp- 

 shire, and in the state New York recorded on two occasions from the 

 Adirondack region. Others are soon noted, the females with strongly 



