24 ( L KA M.\(iS FROM NA TV HE 



through a wooded blue-grass pasture, and watched 

 the denizens of its waters. A peaceful calm existed, 

 the water being without a ripple and with scarce the 

 semblance of a flow the air without the shadow of a 

 breeze. Dragon flies lazily winged their way across 

 the pool, now resting daintily upon a blade of sedge 

 or swamp grass, now dipping the tips of their abdo- 

 mens beneath the surface of the water while deposit- 

 ing their eggs. The only sounds of nature were the 

 buzz of a bumble-bee feeding among the flowers of 

 the Brunella at my side, and an occasional drawl of a 

 dog-day locust from the branches of the sycamore 

 which threw a grateful shade about me. 



The sunfish "hung motionless" in the water, their 

 heads towards me, holding their position only by a 

 slow flapping of their dorsal and pectoral fins. Their 

 nesting time over, their season's labor ended, it was 

 with them, as with many other beings, a time of 

 languor. 



These long-eared fishes are the lords and ladies of 

 the respective pools wherein they abide. When they 

 move other smaller fry clear the way. If a worm or 

 gnat, falling upon the surface, tempts them, it is theirs. 

 A leaf falls near them and is seemingly unnoticed a 

 Hy. and how quickly their dormant energy is put into 

 motion. With a dart and a gulp the insect is swal- 

 lowed and a new stage of waiting expectancy is 

 ushered in. 



How admirably fitted their form for cleaving tin- 

 water! They often seem to glide rather than propel 

 themselves through its depths. Again, how swiftly 

 the caudal fin moves when with straight unerring 



