Marsh. 



2OI 



carefully as it plays round yon mass of gambolling midges. 

 Up and down, round and round, forward and backward it 

 goes ; but with every movement its jaws close, and a fly is 

 enclosed in that rapacious maw. A sudden sweep with a 

 stick, and the spoiler lies stunned and helpless on the 

 ground. There are actually two or three flies still sticking 

 from its mouth, and, judging by the movement of their 



FIG. 43. DRAGON-FLT. 

 , Larva ; b, Nymph; c, Imago emerging from Nymph ; d, Imago. 



bodies, they are scarcely dead, but they are held by those 

 powerful jaws in a most tenacious grip. Observe the 

 powerful wings, with their exquisite network ! Mark the 

 large head, and the peculiar way in which it is fastened to 

 the thorax ! Note, also, the powerful jaws and large com- 

 pound eyes. 



Would you like to know something about the life of a 

 dragon-fly ? Its segmented body and six legs tell you that 



