vi THE DOMESTIC LIFE OF ANIMALS 105 



Among insects the love-play is again very lively. Like 

 birds, many of these active animals are very beautiful 

 in colour and form, especially in the male sex, and a 

 display of charms has often been noticed. Like birds, 

 though in a different fashion, some of them are musical, 

 using their hard legs and wing-edges as instruments. 

 The crickets chirp merrily, the cicadas " sing," and the 

 death-watch taps at the door of his mate. 



In the summer night, when colours are put out by the 

 darkness, the glow-worm shines brightly on the mossy 

 bank. In the British species (Lampyris noctiluca) the 

 winged male and the wingless female are both luminous ; 

 the latter indeed excels in brightness, while her mate has 

 larger eyes. Whatever the phosphorescence may mean 

 to the constitution of the insect, it is certainly a love- 

 signal between the sexes. But we know most about the 

 Italian glow-worm (Luciola italicd], of whose behaviour 

 we have a lively picture thanks to Professor Emery's 

 nocturnal observations in the meadows around Bologna. 

 The females sit among the grass ; the males fly about in 

 search of them. When a female catches sight of the 

 flashes of an approaching male, she allows her splendour 

 to shine. He sees the female's signal, and is swiftly 

 beside her, circling round like a dancing elf. But one 

 suitor is not enough. The female attracts a levee. In 

 polite rivalry her devotees form a circle and await the 

 coquette's choice. In the two sexes, Emery says, the 

 colour of the light is identical, and the intensity seems 

 much the same, though the love-light of the female is 

 more restricted. The most noteworthy difference is 

 that the luminous rhythm of the male is more rapid, 

 with briefer flashes ; while that of the female is more 

 prolonged, with longer intervals, and more tremulous- 

 illumined svmbols of the contrast between the sexes. 



/ 



While recognising the genuinely beautiful love-making 

 of most birds, we did not ignore that the courtship of 

 most mammals is somewhat rough. So, after admiring 

 the love-dances of many butterflies, the merry songs of 

 the grasshoppers, and the flashing signals of the glow- 

 insects, it is just that we should turn to the strange 



