The Red Cloud chief., 1880-10-07

THE "DiRNINc.>EEDLf."
THE da~Tniu.-ucrilc has the wise
family name LtiShaGs. the plata Ia.
cll.h Of Nhi,h i. drasua-Ey. Il dussu'i
object - either % these names. "r ewes
To the common name q i~aFuiaG needle.
II YOU only don't associate II Wtih ant-
thing sgsf oT bliud L. j. r,a.iy no
clumsy affair. There : not a slij join'
in - body. and a, for seeing things.
WHY. bless YOUR ewes u Sa perfect
marvel. You never saN anNih NJ
more wonderful. /, woulL take your
frightened. smart LIE Johnny siN
hour. the longest. busiest hours hc
ever spent ia hIs llc Just To- count the
eyes Il the d~ragun-hN. I~wcuty-t"ur
thousand cycs, just think a.! = ltti"
chap with twelve thousand Cyrsto your
one. H. can LOOK to the right an. -
the left. down aud up. backward and
forward. toward all p".ats II the COM
pass ~ the same instant of time Who
can tell nj! that h. sec,P Woulin't rou
Ike Ia borrow his eyes for about tea
minutes
The dragon-ay i not only marvellous
on recount II II, vast numbcT of cfes
but It i, curious IN macy WAYS There
are abou; two hundred knONu species.
some Of which arr ycry beautiful. The
largest and most brilliant kinds az,
found un the Amazon River. Some
of them. saws 4 traveller. with green
or crimson bodies seven inches long.
and their elegant. lace like wings tipped
with white or yellow.
The dragon It's j. the mos, fcrncious
81 all insects. and he has for this reason
been called the devils darning-
needle" but IL is better t. drop the big
adjective and not call hard names. Yet
be Is truly the greatest cannibal oi the
insect world. lie dimes with keenrs,
relish upon his many cousins. has n
special appetite for tender youIg mo
q%uitocs. and does not hesitate To devOur
the prct,icsi. loyeliest butterflies oT ans
OF the family relatives that he l. able u
catch.
All the little fellows are afraid of him.
but i Is useless u tTy to escape him.
Even the swift mosquito. with It's three
thousand vibrations of the wing n min
ute. cannot outlly this terrible. swLt
dragon.
lie takes his meals while on the wing
"a whole insect at u swallow and
YOU can hardly guess how many victims
are served up for n good square
meal" Quite "A liiilc swarm j. needed
for his dinner. and he j. AWAY. ready
TO make way with all the scattering
ones that be finds for lunch between
meals.
The dragon-Hy knows all the WAYS Of
the world. lie can dart backward lust
~ well ~ forward. and fy sideways
just n well "A any other way. and 80
there - no chance 10 get out of hi.
way. When he nee goes for his victim.
il - all over with il.
Naturalists have been greatly inter
ested in this insect. ani have studied
it, habits closely from its babyhood up.
Mr.. Dragon is a firm believer ia the
use OF plenty Of water in bringing no
her babies, 80 oil her little ones b e.in
life IN an aquatic nursery. From the
leaf Of n water-plsnt. in which they are
al first cuddled zap. they come ont with
r~ough-loosing. grub-like bodies. having
six -prawling legs. They find them
selves all alone in the world Their
i4DNtfA la EtHF aAl III Aittft. am d
thew have no one to provide them with
their "a bread and dinner" They must
stir themselves and grub IL for q liv-
ing But they have such n stupid.
lubber-beel look. that no on. would
think they knew enough To take care Of
themselves. On their head j. some
thing that looks like n hood. and this ia
drawn over their faces as though hes
were ashamed.
But this hood il only their natural
head dress. These little waier-nymnhs
don { really wear their hoods for bon
nets 10 keep them from taking cold. bat
they are really mask. and yery CURIOUS
ones. too. This mask il male al
hinges. slides and hooks. and IL is their
trap TO get n living. When they so.
which they woali relish for
dinner. the hinges spring open. the
slides shove Dat. and the hooks cling
in. and in one instant o! time their prey
is secured And ths; - the way these
dumpish-lookn little ehaus ego a
fishing You surely wOuIl never eli
them dull fellows if you should once see
the liveS way they serve Up refresh.
ments. Quicker than we can tel n
they pack their lunch baskets from can
sized gnai and mos9UIto-boa,z. andtbsy
overtake the swift Little tas!o~,,es and
serve them Up IN "smsckiny good
meat-pies-
Perhaps you would ike to kno1 hox
Little fellows get about - fast
Neither fms Dor paddles Of "a kiaa
used in chasing their prsy. nor 20
help them handle il when eaught- Bat
10 get abou; they have a way Of their
oEn- and. n fex years ago. a British
var vessel was built 70 20 BY a method
Ike theirs
You may have read tia. benjamin.
franklin once had ar idea tia: = boat
could be made with = pump in the
stern. By which water could be draxa
IN and pumped out with such force a
10 Propel the boat along. But the In
g~enious franklin. although he e1nsd
coax lightning from the e.osds and
make it obey him. had TO give M IRE
Idea OF pumping boats about. And
here Is just where this i.tle grub
beats the great photographer. In the
stern OF his lite WDrm-skia boa. a.
ras \ pump that works Ike a charm.
When the little nymph wants 20 go On
m exploring voyage his clever little
muscles instantly set the pump a; work,