30 DRAGONFLIES OF NORTH AMERICA 
still unmindful of his danger, was busily engaged in scratching his head with 
his foot. I was more relieved when a moment later I had the net over him, but 
the suspense was not entirely relieved until I had him in a cyanide bottle, and 
the cork in tight. 
Bits of odd behavior—species idiosyncracies—will be met with 
afield, while collecting. Here is one, related by E. B. Williamson (’07) 
from his collecting of Boyeria vinosa in upper Ontario. It is 
A common species along the streams where its tendency to examine critically 
every object projecting above the water often makes its capture an embarrassing 
matter to the collector. More than once as I waited for an approaching male this 
insect suddenly left the line of flight I had mapped out for it, flew to within an 
inch of my legs, circled around one leg a time or two, then around the other, 
then about both, and then quietly resumed its flight along the stream, oblivious 
to the net which had been frantically fanned all around it. 
There are more prosaic ways of getting dragonflies. The high flyers 
may be brought down with a gun; and if the finest shot be used to 
load the gun, a fair proportion of usable specimens will be obtained 
so. Small dragonflies and damselflies that sit on the low grass by the 
waterside or on the ground may be captured more easily and quickly 
with a fly-swatter than with a net. This calls for a big swatter on a 
long, light handle. A light stroke beats them down and stuns them, 
and they are then picked up, usually uninjured, before recovering. 
The foresighted collector will take advantage of times and places 
of abundance and get plenty of specimens when the getting is good. 
Easy picking for dragonflies rarely occurs; but sometimes numbers 
of them can be picked by hand from their roosting places, and some- 
times a storm will toss good specimens upon the driftline of a beach. 
Specimens may be preserved either dry or in alcohol. If dry—the 
usual way—they may be either pinned or papered; and the methods 
in either case are those that are so familiar to entomologists generally 
that we will not take space to describe them here.* 
It is important that specimens be dried quickly before moulds grow 
and ruin them. No extra precautions are necessary in a dry place; 
but when the atmosphere is very humid some application of artificial 
heat may be needed. 
* For these methods, see Needham’s Elementary Lessons on Insects, or any of 
the larger textbooks of entomology, or better still, consult Williamson’s Dzrec- 
tions for Collecting and Preserving Dragonflies for Museum Purposes, Univ. of 
Mich. Museum of Zoology, Misc. Publications No. 1, 1916. This embodies the 
best results of the long experience of a very successful dragonfly collector. 
