378 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



the concert. When the rhythmical beat is once established it is in as 



perfect time as if governed by the baton of a Damrosch or a Thomas. 



The throbbing of the cricket heart of September, it has 



been fitly named. Sometimes an injudicious player 



joins the chorus at the wrong beat, but he soon discovers 



his error and rectifies it. Sometimes, also, late at night, 



one part of the orchestra in an orchard gets out of time 



with the majority, and discord may continue for some 



moments, as if the players were too cold and too sleepy 



to pay good attention. This delectable concert begins 



usually in the late afternoons and continues without 



ceasing until just before dawn the next morning. Many 



times I have heard the close of the concert; with the 



"wee sma" hours the rhythmic beat becomes slower; 



toward dawn there is a falling off in the number of players; 



the beat is still slower, and the notes are hoarse, as if the 



fiddlers were tired and cold; finally, when only two or 



three are left the music stops abruptly." (Ways of the Six-Footed, 



Comstock.) 



The lesson on this cricket may be adapted from that on the black 

 cricket. 



Snowy tree 

 cricket. 





THE COCKROACH 



Teacher's Story 



OCKROACHES in our kitchens are undoubtedly an 

 unmitigated nuisance, and yet, as in many other in- 

 stances, when we come to consider the individual 

 cockroach, we find him an interesting fellow and 

 exceedingly well adapted for living in our kitchens 

 despite us. 



In shape, the cockroach is flat, and is thus well 

 adapted to slide beneath utensils and into crevices 

 and corners. Its covering is smooth and polished 

 like patent leather, and this makes it slippery and 

 enables it to get into food without becoming clogged 

 by the adherence of any sticky substance. The 

 antennae are very long and flexible and can be bent in any direction. 

 They may be placed far forward to touch things which the 

 insect is approaching, or may be placed over the back in order 

 to be out of the way. They are like graceful, living threads, 

 and the cockroach tests its whole environment with their aid. 

 The mouth has two pairs of palpi or feelers, one of which is 

 very long and noticeable; these are kept in constant motion 

 as if to test the appetizing qualities of food. The mouth-parts 

 are provided with jaws for biting and, like all insect jaws, these 

 work sidewise instead of up and down. The eyes are black 

 but not prominent or large, and seem to be merely a part of 

 the sleek, polished head-covering. 



Some species of cockroaches have wings, and some do not. 

 Those which have wings, have the upper pair thickened and used for wing- 



Croton 

 bug. 



