PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 24, NO. 7-8, OCT.-NOV., 1922 191 



"Thou art a female, Katydid! 

 I know it by the trill 

 That quivers through thy piercing note 

 So petulant and shrill." 



Reasoning by analogy is not always a safe procedure, and so 

 it is in this case, because the female katy-did does not sing this 

 song, and the females of most stridulating insects, including the 

 Orthoptera, are practically or quite voiceless! 



Of the Gryllidae, the house and field-crickets are the subject 

 of many passages and not a few complete poems. Of the latter, 

 Cowper's translation of Vincent Bourne's poem dedicated to 

 "The Cricket" is not by any means the worst. 



"Little inmate full of mirth, 

 Chirping on my kitchen hearth, 

 Whereso'er be thine abode, 

 Always harbinger of good, 

 Pay me for thy warm retreat 

 With a song more soft and sweet; 

 In return thou shalt receive 

 Such a strain as I can give." 



This refers, of course, to the European House-cricket, Gryllus 

 domesticus. 



A pleasing variation from the ordinary is Thomas Augustine 

 Daly's clever Italian dialect poem, called "II Grille ": 



"How comes he to dis colda clime 

 To seeng so tar trom homa? 

 I catch him manny, manny time 

 Wen I am boy in Roma. 



I catch heem een da fields an' tak' 

 Heem back eento da ceety, 

 Where reecha people try to mak' 

 Deir gardens fine an' pritty. 



Dey are so glad for hear heem seeng 



Dey no can gat too manny 



An' so for evra wan I breeng 



Dey geevu me a penny. 



Dough here hees song ees justa same, 



Hees name I no ca'n speak eet 



Eh? w'at you call hees Anglaice name? 



All! 'creecket,' yes, 'da creecket. ' 



Sh! nevva mind da snow, 



An' how da weend ees blow: 



Hoo-woo! Hoo-woo! Hoo-wee! 



For here eet's warm, an' O! 



II grillo seenga so: 



Cher-ree! cher-ree! cher-ree!" 



