138 Miscellaneous. 



the forest, the tender branches of almost any variety of wood are used 

 for this purpose. In a few days the leaves on the twig dry up, and 

 the punctured parts, in many instances, break with the wind and fall 

 to the ground. 



By the 21st of May they had increased rapidly, and the woods on 

 the side hills were vocal with their music. The male is the songster, 

 and has vibrating air-cells at the back of and under the wings. Where 

 they are abundant their noise is deafening in the sunny and hot por- 

 tion of the day, but they are nearly silent at night. About the 6th 

 and 7th of June the weather was quite cold, which retarded their 

 progress very much, and during a long and continued rain many of 

 them died. They delight in heat and sunshine, moving about with 

 great briskness. By the last of June they had nearly all perished ; and, 

 as in 1829, numbers were seen flying short distances, after the ab- 

 domen had wasted away, and separated from the wings and thorax. 

 By the middle of August, or about sixty days after the eggs are de- 

 posited, they are hatched, and the young Cicadas are ready to enter 

 into the earth. They prevailed over the woody region on the north 

 of the Ohio river, from the Alleghany mountains to the Mississippi ; 

 and were full as numerous as in 1829, but will probably diminish as 

 the forests are cut away. 



Marietta, January 5th, 1847. 



In continuation of this subject, which is one of general interest, 

 we cite the following paragraphs from the very valuable work of T. 

 W. Harris, M.D., on the Insects of Massachusetts injurious to Ve- 

 getation (pp. 171-175), referring to the work itself for a more com- 

 plete history of the Cicada*. 



In those parts of Massachusetts which are subject to the visitation 

 of this Cicada, it may be seen in forests of oak about the middle of 

 June. Here such immense numbers are sometimes congregated as 

 to bend and even break down the limbs of the trees by their weight, 

 and the woods resound with the din of their discordant drums from 

 morning to evening. After pairing, the females proceed to prepare 

 a nest for the reception of their eggs. They select, for this purpose, 

 branches of a moderate size, which they clasp on both sides with 

 their legs, and then bending down the piercer at an angle of about 

 forty-five degrees, they repeatedly thrust it obliquely into the bark 

 and wood in the direction of the fibres, at the same time putting in 

 motion the lateral saws ; in this way they detach little splinters of 

 the wood at one end, so as to form a kind of fibrous lid or cover to the 

 perforation. The whole is bored obliquely to the pith, and is gra~ 

 dually enlarged by a repetition of the same operation, till a longitu- 

 dinal fissure is formed of sufficient extent to receive from ten to 

 twenty eggs. The side-pieces of the piercer serve as a groove to 

 convey the eggs into the nest, where they are deposited in pairs, side 

 by side, but separated from each other by a portion of woody fibre, 



* Report on the Insects of Massachusetts injurious to Vegetation, bv 

 Thaddeus William Harris, M.D. 460 pp., 8vo. Cambridge, 1841. 



