THE OUTDOOR WORLD. 



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within the box. One sound which 

 was frequently heard, a peculiar, sub 

 clued drum-roll. I did not understand 

 until some years later when 1 saw and 

 heard it made by mice of the same kind 

 which 1 had in captivity. The captive 

 mice were kept in a cage made oi wood 

 and woven wire. Among them were 

 two males which seemed to be jealous 

 of each other, and when one was feed- 

 ing and the other would approach too 

 near the one that had the food, would 

 lift its dainty forefoot and beat a lively 

 rattle, usually on a thin board that 

 formed a part of the cage. Very often 



The musical apparatus of the periodical Cicada: 

 a, view from beneath, showing the plates (light 

 colored) covering the sounding disks; b, dorsal 

 view, the timbals showing as light-colored areas; 

 c, section at base of abdomen, showing attach- 

 ment of large muscles to timbals; d, timbal 

 greatly enlarged, in normal position ; e, same 

 drawn forcibly in by the action of one of the 

 muscles, as in singing. 



The noise of the cicada is a drumming, and is 

 really like an extremely rapid drumming upon 

 the bottom of a tin pan. The membrane at the 

 base of the abdomen is corrugated and by mus- 

 cular attachments is pulled in and out rapidly 

 so as to produce the effect of driving in and out 

 the bottom of the tin pan in question. In fact, 

 the name of one of the Indian genera of cicadas 

 is Dundubia, coming from the old Sanskrit word 

 "dundub" (a beautiful descriptive word, by the 

 way)- which means a drum. — L. O. Howard, 

 Chief of Bureau of Entomology, Washington, 

 D. C. 



been as many as two hundred of the 

 caterpillars, a few feeding on the green 

 leaves but most of them resting on the 

 dried remnants of leaves with which 

 the nest was filled. Suddenly, as by a 

 common impulse, every caterpillar 

 raised the front half of the body and 

 began in unison to swing the head 

 rapidly to the right and left. At each 

 beat most of the caterpillars struck the 

 dried leaves with sufficient force to 

 create a rustling sound. The sound 

 was heard as a succession of beats like 

 that made by a dog or fox trotting over 

 dried leaves and was loud enough to 



Cut from U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



the other mouse would respond in the 

 same manner and the challenge would 

 be eiven back and forth several times. 



Several species of insects are known 

 to attract their mates with a sound 

 made by striking upon some object. 

 The little "death-watch" whose tick is 

 often heard coming from the wood 

 about old buildings is a familiar ex- 

 ample. The ticking sound is made by 

 the male beating its head against the 

 wall of its burrow in the wood and in- 

 stead of making the sound to warn 

 those who hear it of impending disas- 

 ter it is simply tapping a serenade to 

 its lady lo\ e. 



I was once watching a colony of 

 caterpillars, of the species commonly 

 known as "fall web-worm," as they 

 rested on the leaves of an apple limb 

 which they had enclosed in their large, 

 looselv-woven tont There must have 



be audible several rods away. After 

 the motion had subsided 1 tried to 

 startle the caterpillars into repeating it, 

 but, try as I would, I could not induce 

 them to perform again. Just what 

 prompted the strange action I have 

 never been able to understand but 

 the measured beat of the caterpillars 

 and the rythmic sound which they 

 made clearly entitles them to a place 

 in the drum-corps. 



When a small boy, I was one day 

 teasing a blacksnake which I had found 

 in the woods. As 1 thrust at it with a 

 long stick 1 was surprised to hear what 

 seemed to be the whir of a rattlesnake. 

 At first 1 thought I might be mistaken 

 as to the kind of snake with which I 

 was playing but a little later the sound 

 was explained when 1 saw the rapidly 

 vibrating tail of the blacksnake beating 

 on a dried leaf and making thereby a 



