80 IN THE ACADIAN LAND. 



This whirligig calls up another member of the 

 family that has taken to the water. It would 

 not require much dredging up of mire mud from 

 the brook-bed above in the meadow to secure a 

 specimen. He is dark brown, almost black, 

 about three-quarters of an inch long, very- 

 round on the back, and rather thin. His legs are 

 adapted to swimming. This is the big water 

 beetle, Dysticus marginalis. He lives mostly 

 under water, but he must breathe, so he comes 

 to the surface, like a porpoise, once in a while, 

 to get a breath, but one scarcely notices this 

 act, as he makes but little show of himself. He 

 is an insect shark, even attacking small fish. 

 They fly from one locality to another, even 

 miles away. The males have suckers on their 

 fore legs very much like those on squid and 

 devil-fish ; these are to better enable them to 

 hold their victims while eating them. 



While I have been observing these " whirli- 

 gigs " another fellow-mortal, who would not 

 mind swallowing them all in a gulp or two, has 

 been furtively showing himself from time to 

 time from under the foam-flecked shadow of the 

 bridge. He is about seven inches in length, 

 clad in burnished scales from head to tail. His 

 sides glisten like polished bronze, and his red 

 fins winnow the water as he rests above the yel- 



