ii8 THE BROOK BOOK 



battle between a back-swimmer and a water-scor- 

 pion. The back-swimmer was always on the offen- 

 sive, and the scorpion merely twisted and turned 

 to avoid the thrusts of his adversary. There would 

 have been no escape for the poor creature had I 

 not constituted myself a rescuing party and trans- 

 ferred the vicious back-swimmer to a separate jar 

 and put him on a diet of fresh beefsteak. 



The giant water-bugs are broad and flat. They 

 sometimes reach great size and have appetites to 

 match. To the little fish and smaller insects they 

 are truly giants. Although vigorous swimmers, 

 their life is not confined to the water. They can 

 fly swiftly from one pond to another. On their 

 journeys, which are usually taken at night, they 

 are likely to be lured aside by dazzling street lights. 

 For this reason they have been called "electric-light 

 bugs." Many lose their lives in this wild, intoxicat- 

 ing whirl. With reckless blundering beetles, and 

 pale ghost-like night moths, they dance, and whirr 

 in and out, back and forth, in a mad blind ecstacy 

 of motion. Sinister bats, most successful of all insect 

 collectors, swoop down amongst them. On the 

 ground, patient watchful toads await those hapless 

 ones which, dizzy and worn out, sink down upon 

 the pavement. Hundreds of them are swept up 

 by street cleaners in the early morning. 



In reflecting upon the appalling mortality caused 

 by the arc light, — this new and subtle enemy of 

 insect life, — I find myself wondering why the 

 electric-light bug has not been totally exterminated. 



