CHAPTER IX. 



DRAGON-FLY STORMS. 



One of the most curious things I have encountered 

 in my observations on animal life relates to a habit 

 of the larger species of dragon-flies inhabiting the 

 Pampas and Patagonia. Dragon-flies are abun- 

 dant throughout the country -wherever there is 

 water. There are several species, all more or less 

 brilliantly coloured. The kinds that excited my won- 

 der, from their habits, are twice as large as the com- 

 mon widely distributed insects, being three inches 

 to four inches in length, and as a rule they are sober- 

 coloured, although there is one species — the largest 

 among them — entirely of a brilliant scarlet. This 

 kind is, however, exceedingly rare. All the different 

 kinds (of the large dragon-flies) when travelling 

 associate together, and occasionally, in a flight 

 composed of countless thousands, one of these 

 brilliant-hued individuals will catch the eye, appear- 

 ing as conspicuous among the others as a poppy or 

 scarlet geranium growing alone in an otherwise 

 flowerless field. The most common species — and 

 in some cases the entire flight seems to be composed 

 of this kind only — is the iEschna bonariensis Rami, 

 the prevailing colour of which is pale blue. But 

 the really wonderful thing about them all alike is, 



