On Thu, 25 Aug 1994, Dennis Paulson wrote:

> Lisa, I've seen that term several times, I guess in one or more of those
> books that tell about an exaltation of larks or a brace of teals or a
> gaggle of geese. I think they are what we would call "archaic," but
> whenever I see such things I get the immediate urge to make up my own, like
> a sneak of snipes or a probe of dunlins or a persistence of jaegers. I had
> better not go on....


.. or a surge of sanderlings? a swoop of swallows? Hey, this is fun.

>
> By the way, if you didn't "draw" the dragonfly, where did you get it? Is it
> copyrighted? I want to acquire it to send to my dragonfly buddies from time
> to time--maybe we can start a whole new genre of biological illustrating
> with brackets and dashes!
>
> Dennis Paulson


I don't know if the dragonfly is copyrighted, Dennis. I'm hoping that
someone out there does know. I copied it from samples sent to me in a
"private" e-mail message -- if there *is* such a thing -- but I don't
know who originally designed those illustrations. (Fellow Tweeter who
sent me that message, you know who you are. Would you please tell
Dennis where that dragonfly came from?)

In the meantime, I wonder what I'm risking by using the dragonfly in my
signature line? What are the rules? I know that I'd feel
uncomfortable claiming it as my own design, even if the rules are wide
open. Anyway, I think this idea of a new genre of biological
illustrations in hyperspace is a good one. Dan, you have some delightful
drawings in your files. :-)

Lisa