FINDING NATURE’S TREASURES 
25 
“Why does she lay her eggs in water?” asked Bess. 
“When the baby dragon flies hatch out of the eggs, won’t 
they drown?” 
“No, because they get air from the water,” explained 
Uncle Jack. “There are bubbles of air in the water, so 
tiny you cannot see them. The baby dragon fly takes 
them into its body. That is the way it breathes, and so 
it does not drown.” 
“Do they live on the bottom of the creek all the time 
they are babies?” asked Fred. 
“Yes. When one is ready to change into a dragon fly 
with wings, it crawls up out of the water and hangs to 
a weed or grass stem. The skin splits down its back, and 
the new dragon fly crawls out of its baby clothes and 
flies away.” 
“That is a queer way to live,” said Buddy. “While 
they are babies, they stay under the water like fish. 
Then, when they are grown, they fly and catch insects in 
the air like birds.” 
