Music of the Wild 



big eyes, a slender, long ))0(ly, dainty legs, and 



four wings set in pairs on eacJi side, with a strong 



When costa Or ril) along the front edge, the remainder 



Dragon- ^]-,g transparent isinglass of the loeust. Thev have 

 flies Sing . ' , ■ , i / i 



a pan- ot sharj) grnulers ]n the mouth, and teed on 

 small inseets among the ruslies. As every living' 

 creature has ecpial rights to life with all others, 

 the tragedy is quite as great A\hen a dragon fly 

 pounces upon a Avater spider and tears off its legs 

 and eats the Ixidy as A\hen a ha\\k s\veeps down 

 upon a partridge and carries it away. 



Dragon flies are the typical insects of the 

 marsh, and of beautv :,;(r])assing all others. Not 

 only are their b.nlies brightly colored, but their 

 wings glitter as diamonds in the light. They have 

 curving, jointed antenuce, and groAv to a wing- 

 spread of four inches in some larger species, so 

 that they attack ])rey the size of cabbage butter- 

 flies. They de])osit their eggs in Avater, and their 

 young are aquatic until time to take AA-ing; Avhen 

 they crawl on the rushes, burst their covering, 

 and emerge damp and crumpled, like night moths. 

 Soon, however, their AA'ings exjjand and harden, 

 and they ])egin to flash their glancing colors over 

 the marshes and sing their song on the tliAvarts of 

 your boat; yes, cA'cn on the brim of your hat. They 

 stray far inland, and often Avhen on the road to 

 the marsh you can see them hunting through beds 

 of rank bergamot and cotic floA\er, ruthlessly de- 



34-8 



