176 UP AND DOWN THE BROOKS. 



if they would mistake them for moths or other 

 living morsels falling within reach. And, al- 

 though many times my grasses were unnoticed, 

 yet, at other times, one of the Skaters would turn 

 hastily toward the grass, or steer himself to it, to 

 make sure it were something edible. 



Perhaps, however, such a Skater may have 

 hoped to find some bug clinging to the grass, but 

 the action of the moment seemed to indicate that 

 the Skater had been deceived. Yet the Skaters 

 are very quick to see a person approach the pool, 

 and after sitting on the bank awhile one has only 

 to stand up to send the whole company of Skaters 

 fleeing away over the water. 



A boy once told me that these creatures have 

 fights, one that has something to eat being chased 

 around by several others. I do not know whether 

 the Water-skaters ever attempt to capture the 

 Whirligig beetles. I have seen a Whirligig pass 

 directly before a middle-sized Skater, and yet the 

 latter did not seem to care for him. Water-skat- 

 ers and Whirligigs can be seen in joint possession 

 of the surface of some small pond. Perhaps the 

 Whirligig is too hard a morsel for the Skater to 

 enjoy. In the few experiments that I have made 

 with Water-skaters on the surface of pools, I have 

 not found the insects liable to be deceived like the 

 Whirligigs with bits of red, white, or dark cloth. 

 But I have held these by white strings, and per- 

 haps the Skaters saw through the device on that 



