56 UP AND DOWN THE BROOKS. 



just like his ma, only very, very small. It is a 

 fact well known to those acquainted with the 

 Notonectidce that there exist among the Water- 

 boatmen different opinions as to the proper 

 method of swimming. In the characteristic di- 

 vision, Notonecta, all the bugs consider it emi- 

 nently proper to turn wrong side up, and swim 

 in that humiliating posture ; while the other divi- 

 sion, known as Corixa, consider such actions un- 

 seemly and swim right side up with great pro- 

 priety. Even from the egg these different modes 

 of swimming are observed. It is in the blood, 

 like any other family feud. Ranatra liked Corixa 

 better for eating, a fact that did him credit. 



No sudden start ever makes Notonecta let go 

 its hold on its prey. Any unexpected jostle only 

 sends the bug darting off, upside down, holding 

 its prey firmly in its arms, as dreadful an embrace 

 as a bear's hug. The two oars bear up the bug 

 while it enjoys its meal. Occasionally Notonecta 

 shifts its prey, and thrusts the pointed javelin of 

 a beak into another place. The second and third 

 joints of Notonecta's oars are the most feathered 

 ones, the hairs growing longer and thicker toward 

 the end of the third joint, just as the blade of an 

 oar becomes wider. Some Boatmen have a queer 

 way of standing on the middle pair of legs, like a 

 bug on stilts, the oars being spread in the water, 

 and the short, first pair of legs clapping together. 



Wood tells us that the eggs of a Mexican kind 



