356 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM 



an angle of about forty-five degrees, i-epeatedly thrusts 

 it obliquely into the bark and wood in the direction of 

 the fibres. At the same time she puts in motion the 

 lateral saws, and in this way detaches little splinters 

 of the wood at one perforation. The hole is bored 

 obliquely to the pith, and is gradually enlarged by a 

 repetition of the same operation, imtil a fissure is 

 formed large enough to receive from ten to twenty eggs. 

 The side-pieces of the piercer serve as a groove to con- 

 vey the eggs into the nest, where thej* are deposited in 

 pairs, side by side, but separated from each other by a 

 portion of woody fibre, and they are implanted into the 

 limb somewhat obliquely, so that one end points up- 

 wards. When two eggs have been thus placed, the 

 insect withdraws the piercer for a moment, and then 

 inserts it again and drops two more eggs in a line with 

 the first, and repeats the operation until she has filled 

 the fissure from one end to another. Then she removes 

 to a little distance and begins to make another nest." 

 (Fig. 116.) 



" How long does it take her to do this ?" asked Penn, 

 " She is about fifteen minutes in preparing a single 

 nest and filling it with eggs." 



" How many of these egg-nests does she have ?" 

 " It is not unusual for her to make fifteen or twenty 

 fissures in the same liml) ; and one observer counted 

 fift}- nests extending along in a line, each containing 

 fifteen or twenty eggs in two rows, and all of them 

 ai)i)arently the work of one insect. After one limb is 

 thus sutliciently stocked, the Cicada goes to another, 



