LOCUSTS 



consequence of the excessive length of his legs. But he 

 has a peculiar way of diverting himself. In calm 

 weather, when the sun is hot, I surprise him in the rose- 

 mary bushes with his wings unfurled and fluttering 

 rapidly, as though for flight. He keeps up this per- 

 formance for a quarter of an hour at a time. His flutter- 

 ing is so gentle, in spite of its extreme speed, that it 

 creates hardly any rustling sound. 



Others are still worse off. One of these is the 

 Pedestrian Locust, who strolls on foot on the ridges of 

 the Ventoux amid sheets of Alpine flowers, silvery, 

 white, and rosy. His colouring is as fresh as that of the 

 flowers. The sunlight, which is clearer on those heights 

 than it is below, has made him a costume combining 

 beauty with simplicity. His body is pale brown above 

 and yellow below, his big thighs are coral red, his hind- 

 legs a glorious azure-blue, with an ivory anklet in front. 

 But in spite of being such a dandy he wears too short a 

 coat. 



His wing-cases are merely wrinkled slips, and his 

 wings no more than stumps. He is hardly covered as far 

 as the waist. Any one seeing him for the first time takes 

 him for a larva, but he is indeed the full-grown insect, 

 and he will wear this incomplete garment to the end. 



With this skimpy jacket of course, music is impossible 

 to him. The big thighs are there; but there are no 

 wing-cases, no grating edge for the bow to rub upon. 



[235] 



