A FORTNIGHT IN THE HIGHLANDS. 87 



often saw two, and now and then even three close together, but 

 very fortunate indeed were we if we managed to secure one out 

 of the lot ! Up to the time of my leaving, on June 20th, about 

 sixty had been secured among us — many more, no doubt, than 

 had hitherto been taken in Britain altogether ; but still we must 

 have seen at least two hundred more specimens than we captured. 

 We could not at all satisfy ourselves as to where the species 

 bred ; they occurred all over the Black Wood and the immediate 

 district, and seemed indeed equally plentiful on the high moor- 

 land above the wood, and in the lowest parts of the wood, some- 

 times even getting into the main road at the bottom. We never 

 saw one actually on the loch-side, nor did they seem at all to 

 frequent the lochan Rusg-a-Bhiora, above the Black Wood ; 

 hence they apparently did not breed in the " big " waters. They 

 were, too, equally absent from the small almost stagnant ponds 

 so frequent in and near the wood, and where a number of 

 Libellula quadrimaculata could almost always be found busy over 

 domestic affairs. The Black Wood, although on a fairly steep 

 hillside, is excessively damp, and the same may be said of the 

 moorlands ; and my own inclination is to believe that the species 

 breeds in the wet mossy ground, and not in the ponds, although 

 I admit it is difficult to conceive of so large a larva as borealis 

 must have, being altogether comfortable in such situation. 



Cordnlia arctica has an altogether different flight to M. 

 borealis, and is much easier to catch. Our difficulty with this 

 species was to find specimens, and altogether we only managed 

 to secure some sixteen examples among us out of perhaps twice 

 that number seen. I do not think we saw a single specimen in 

 the Black Wood, although all were taken on the higher and 

 generally more open ground in the immediate vicinity. Still 

 they were almost invariably seen near trees, and some certainly 

 in the thick plantation of firs above the Black Wood. A common 

 habit the species had was to ascend spirally to a considerable 

 height, generally near a tall tree, and unless netted on its first 

 rising from the ground was usually lost. The first day on which 

 we saw the species, evidently when it was just beginning to 

 emerge, Mr. King had the good fortune to secure six in a very 

 short time ; but no other similar fortune occurred to any of us, 

 our captures afterwards being generally singly, and at long 

 intervals. The other dragonflies taken were comparatively of 

 less interest. The local Leucorrhinia dubia was common on the 

 ponds, and about the heath near the lochan Rusg-a-Bhiorna ; 

 and the pretty and variable Libellula quadrimaculata was abun- 

 dant on both the high and low grounds. The fine Cordulegaster 

 annidatus was common on the heaths, a beautiful object as it 

 flew leisurely in the sun, its golden rings showing out con- 

 spicuously. A curious Msclina juncea was taken, so much like a 

 borealis that it may be a hybrid, especially as no other juncea 



