72 OUT OF DOORS. 



bristle-fringed ends, look exceedingly like oars. In fact, 

 we have no oars that can in any respect approach in 

 efficiency the swimming-legs of the water-boatman, with 

 their invariably correct action, and their self-feathering 

 blades. The name of Notonecta or back-swimmer is 

 given to the insect in consequence of the habit of turn- 

 ing on its back when it swims. 



These insects are not beetles, though they are often 

 thought to be so. They belong to another order of in- 

 sects altogether, and will give very tangible proofs of 

 this fact if carelessly handled. Anyone who has caught 

 one of the predacious beetles may expect a sharp nip 

 with the jaws if he does not take care of himself. But the 

 water-boatman, in common with the rest of its kin, is 

 furnished with a sharp and strong proboscis, which it will 

 drive deeply into the fingers of its captor if it gets a 

 chance. Like the whirlwig, the water-boatman is able 

 to take flight directly from the surface of the water, and 

 does so in a very similar manner, leaping out of the 

 water by a violent stroke of its swimming-legs, and then 

 spreading its wings before it falls back again. When 

 on the wing, it flies with a deep humming sound, very 

 like that which is produced by the humble-bee. 



Its respiration is carried on much in the same way 

 as that of the water-beetle already described. On a calm 

 day, if ' Mrs. Coates's Bath ' be approached cautiously, 

 so that a heavy step does not communicate itself 

 through the land to the water, and that no shadow 

 be thrown upon the insects, whole fleets of water- 



