SUMMER MEETING AT BROOKFIELD. 159 



ing part of the base of the wings, and in playing the latter are slowly 

 half opened and closed, producing a peculiar, melodious rattle, which, 

 when the movements are rapid, in some of the species, blends more or 

 less into a continuous note. 



Leading them all in interest is the true or broad-winged katydid 

 fCyrtophyllus concavus), the only one of the group whose large, con- 

 vex outer wings entirely enclose the body, and the transparent, lace- 

 like under wings. In the males the musical apparatus is conspicuous 

 just back of the thorax. It consists of overlapping plates of translu- 

 cent smoky-brown membrane, with a raised encircling frame and horny 

 cross ridges. As the wings are slightly raised and alternately opened 

 and closed, the ridges of one plate grate against those of the other, and 

 produce distinct sounds, resembling iteration and contradiction, which 

 goes on for hours without apparent fatigue or diminution of enjoyment 

 on the part of the performer — whatever may be the feelings of the lis- 

 tener. To what fanciful mind we are indebted for the translation of 

 these interrupted raspings into the accusation and denial with which 

 we now associate them, not even a legend remains to tell us. Occa- 

 sionally a poet's inspiration moves him to disclose the secret, but not a 

 single " katy " seems to have accepted the explanation, for to every one 

 he seems to make only this reply: 



"I sit among the leaves here, when evening zephyrs sigh, 

 And those that listen to my voice [ love to mystify ; 

 I never tell them all I know, altho' I'm often bid, 

 I laugh at curiosity, and chirrup katydid!" 



It is a pity, perhaps, that Mrs. Cyrtophyllus Concavus is so abso- 

 lutely dumb. No doubt, she alone, of all the world, knows what it was 

 that " Katy " did. The cousin that most lesembles the true katy is the 

 angular-winged katydid (Microcentrus retinervis). It is this species 

 whose rows of gray-brown, bivalvular eggs are so common on slender 

 twigs and vines, and are also often found on the cords of our window 

 shades or any other convenient string indoors. I have even had them 

 very neatly placed on the band of my sewing-machine — all of which 

 proves defective instinct in a very important matter. 



The stridulation of this angular-winged species is more rapid and 

 continuous than that of concavus, and has been compared to the "rasp- 

 ing of a stiff quill drawn across a coarse file," but with a more musical 

 quality. 



Another less obtrusive, but no less interesting, member of this 

 group is the narrow-winged katydid ( Phaneroptera curvicanda). Before 

 it attains its wings, this species may often be found on low oak bushes, 

 where it is conspicuous for its bright coloring — the body being beauti- 



