172 NATURE'S STORY OF THE YEAR 



cruel claws and beaks that drain the life-juices of 

 victims ; creatures lithe and stealthy as serpents, 

 with apparatus for descending or ascending in the 

 water, the better to strike prey from below ; things 

 that can walk, swim, dive, and fly with equal 

 facility, and all ready to kill. The unaided eye 

 may number a multitude of them, but the micro- 

 scope discovers a myriad more, all warring on each 

 other, and revelling in gluttony. 



It is amid the thick growth of plants on 

 marshes, by sluggish streams meandering through 

 ferns, that life seems most rapid in development 

 and decay. In such a spot in July there is 

 a continual murmuring of winged creatures 

 beetles, flies and others all active and eager ; 

 and swifter than either, more fearless and beau- 

 tiful, sails the great dragonfly. He darts above 

 the swaying stems with gossamer wings rustling 

 an accompaniment to the hum of innumerable 

 droneflies the death-messenger to all gnats and 

 blight that would cross his course. So mobile, 

 so sure in swooping, so free from apparent effort, 

 he almost seems to be a spirit ordered to de- 

 stroy all that would escape by flight from the 



