114 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



had climbed on a reed out of the water. He sent me seven males 

 and two females, as well as two nymph-skins which he allowed me 

 to retain. At the same time he forwarded examples of E. cyathi- 

 gernm and I. elegans from Middleton near Manchester, Lanes. 



In the New Forest a few Agrion mercuriale, Charp. (one being 

 a female), were taken at Oberwater on July 28th ; but Ischnura 

 puinilio, Charp., could not be found, nor did I see anything of it 

 at all during the season. A male A. mercuriale was taken at 

 Oberwater as late as August 24th. 



At the end of July C. virgo was very numerous in the Forest, 

 and on August 7th it was still common, and at Blackwater the 

 males flitting over or near the stream shone very brilliantly blue 

 in the sunshine. On that day two females were noticed on a 

 water-lily leaf, clearly ovipositing, with body arched and its tip 

 closely applied to the surface of the leaf. One soon departed, 

 but from time to time for a quarter of an hour or more the 

 second (presumably the same nil the time) was noticed at her 

 task. When she, too, had gone I plucked the leaf, and, holding 

 it to the light, could see what appeared to be large numbers of 

 eggs within the tissue. Some ridges also were visible on the 

 upper surface. The leaf was brought home for further investiga- 

 tion. A few days later I extracted several eggs from it. They 

 were buried between the two skins of the leaf, and although 

 almost transparent and very delicate in appearance, it was not 

 difficult to get them out unharmed. They resembled tiny 

 cylinders with somewhat pointed ends. It would be interesting 

 to know whether the eggs hatched while the leaf was still living or 

 not till it decayed at the end of the summer. After the middle 

 of August this dragonfly rapidly decreased in number. 



At Duck-hole Bog in the Forest, on August 9th, a female 

 Orthetrum carulescens, Fabr., was seen ovipositing in a watery 

 hole in the bog by striking the surface with the tip of her 

 abdomen. A male followed her, hovering a few inches above her. 

 This confirms my surmise that the nymphs live in such holes in 

 the bogs. 



On August 10th a male C. annulatus settled on a small upright 

 stick within a yard of me by the side of Blackwater and stayed 

 several minutes while I sat admiring its colours and its emerald 

 eyes, which it occasionally brushed with its legs. On August 24th 

 at another part of the same stream one was seen ovipositing by 

 dropping the eggs just below the surface of the water. I heard her 

 before I saw her, though I suppose it was the sound of the wings 

 that betrayed her rather than the forcible striking of the water. 



At Palmer's Water in the Forest a female L. depressa was 

 secured as late as August 15th, while L. Balcomb tried without 

 success to catch Aiiax imperator, Leach, at Marlborough Deeps 

 on August 14th, and on Beaulieu Heath the next day. 



At Avthog, in Merionethshire, E. B. Nevinson took C. virgo 



