MUSICIANS 271 



while rival notes issue from the neighbouring trees, 

 and the groves resound with the call of Katy-did- 

 she-did the livelong night." 



We have already mentioned that the too familiar 

 House Cricket (Gryllus domesticus) has, in the male, 

 a musical file on the under side of each wing-cover ; 

 and this is a character that will be found throughout 

 the family Gryllidse, to which it belongs. In the 

 Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa vulgaris) the musical 

 organs are smaller and simpler than those of the 

 House Cricket, and the note produced by them is 

 a dull jarring note which has been compared to 

 that of the Nightjar. 



Kirby and Spence say that they once traced a 

 Mole Cricket to its burrow by means of its song. 

 This is a hint to those who live in neighbourhoods 

 where it abounds, and who would like to make 

 acquaintance with this remarkable insect. In the 

 case of the other musical Orthoptera, we have always 

 experienced a difficulty in following up a clue of 

 this sort, as, to our ears, the notes often appear 

 to have a ventriloquial quality which confuses one 

 respecting the spot from which it arises. 



Of the Field Cricket {Gryllus camfestris) our old 

 friend Gilbert White tells us that " they chirp all 

 night as well as day from the middle of the month 

 of May to the middle of July ; and in hot weather, 

 when they are most vigorous, they make the hills 

 echo, and in the stiller hours of darkness may be 

 heard to a considerable distance. In the beginning 

 of the season their notes are more faint and inward ; 



