﻿BRITISH ODONATA IN 1911. 143 



flight and strikingly brilliant tint caught my attention. The 

 former resembled that of Sijmpetram flaveolum and S. sanguineum 

 as I had been accustomed to it at Wisley Ponds, in Surrey. 

 After considerable difficulty three were captured, and I found 

 that I had added a new species to my British collection and at 

 the same time to the New Forest list {vide antea, vol. xliv. p. 267). 

 The species was in fact S. foiiscolombii, which almost certainly 

 is always a migrant to our shores. All were males, and another 

 seen was apparently a male also. On August 7th I revisited 

 the pond and found the species still present. At least one female 

 which looked like a Sijmpetrum was seen, but it was not captured. 

 As, however, I took a male S. striolatum, the female may have 

 belonged to that species, or it may even have been an Orthetrum, 

 as O. cceridescens was common at the spot. 



On August 8th I made a third excursion to the pond, and 

 this time secured a female S.fonscolomhii. The fresh condition 

 of the species and the capture of the female raised some doubt 

 in my mind as to whether the dragonflies could be migrants 

 after all, an opinion which Mr. C. A. Briggs shared with me, in 

 consequence of the lateness of the date. When hovering on the 

 wing in the brilliant sunshine their bodies glow with a rich soft 

 scarlet tint, which unfortunately becomes dark and dull as they 

 dry after death. The female, which was in perfect condition, 

 looked very pale on the wing. On August 24th I again visited 

 the spot, but it began to rain as soon as I arrived. The next 

 day, however, I tried again, and found specimens numerous, but 

 their restless habits and the rather high wind made it difficult 

 to catch them. As S. striolatum was on the wing also, it was 

 difficult to tell whether any females of S. fonscolombii were 

 present ; but one very pale specimen belonged, I think, to the 

 scarcer species. Unfortunately I could not effect a capture. 

 The insects were not so fresh now, but the crimson colouring 

 was as rich as ever. On August 29th I visited the pond for the 

 last time. Males still seemed fairly numerous, but they were as 

 usual very restless, and I captured but one. 



From the New Forest we must now turn our attention to 

 Scotland. Mr. W. Evans tells us in the ' Scottish Naturalist ' 

 (No. 1, p. 12, January, 1912) of his capture of a female S. fons- 

 colombii on August 17th in the Isle of May at the mouth of the 

 Firth of Forth. He afterwards heard from Mr. P. H. Grimshaw 

 that another female had been caught by a boy in Edinburgh on 

 August 11th. Further, as he was examining a box of insects for 

 Mr. J. W. Bowhill, he found amongst them a fine male of the 

 same species which had been taken on July 30th near Aberlady, 

 where others were seen at the same time. 



Nor is this all. In the autumn Lieut. -Col. C. G. Nurse sent 

 me some dragonflies for identification, and amongst them were 

 two males of S. fonscolombii, one taken at Ampton, in West 



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