FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



his clawed legs, would make landslips and block up 

 his own house. 



Well, he behaves like a miner or a railway-engineer. 

 The miner holds up his galleries with pit-props; the 

 builder of railways strengthens his tunnel with a casing 

 of brickwork; the Cicada is as clever as either of them, 

 and covers the walls of his tunnel with cement. He 

 carries a store of sticky fluid hidden within him, with 

 which to make this plaster. His burrow is always built 

 above some tiny rootlet containing sap, and from this root 

 he renews his supply of fluid. 



It is very important for him to be able to run up and 

 down his burrow at his ease, because, when the time comes 

 for him to find his way into the sunshine, he wants to 

 know what the weather is like outside. So he works away 

 for weeks, perhaps for months, to make a funnel with 

 good strong plastered walls, on which he can clamber. 

 At the top he leaves a layer as thick as one's finger, to 

 protect him from the outer air till the last moment. At 

 the least hint of fine weather he scrambles up, and, 

 through the thin lid at the top, inquires into the state of 

 the weather. 



If he suspects a storm or rain on the surface — matter of 

 great importance to a delicate grub when he takes off his 

 skin ! — he slips prudently back to the bottom of his snug 

 funnel. But if the weather seems warm he smashes his 



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