The Life of the Grasshopper 



bundle to the ground. Since then I have 

 repeatedly had occasion to witness similar 

 carnage. 



I have even seen the Grasshopper — the 

 height of audacity, this — dart in pursuit of a 

 Cicada in mad flight. Even so does the 

 Sparrow-hawk pursue the Swallow^ in the 

 sky. But the bird of prey here is inferior 

 to the insect. It attacks a weaker than 

 Itself. The Grasshopper, on the other hand, 

 assaults a colossus, much larger than herself 

 and stronger; and nevertheless the result of 

 the unequal fight is not in doubt. The 

 Grasshopper rarely fails with the sharp 

 pliers of her powerful jaws to disembowel 

 her capture, which, being unprovided with 

 weapons, confines Itself to crying out and 

 kicking. 



The main thing is to retain one's hold of 

 the prize, which is not difl^cult In somnolent 

 darkness. Any Cicada encountered by the 

 fierce Locustid on her nocturnal rounds Is 

 bound to die a lamentable death. This ex- 

 plains those sudden agonized notes which 

 grate through the w^oods at late, unseason- 

 able hours, when the cymbals have long been 

 silent. The murderess In her suit of apple- 

 green has pounced on some sleeping Cicada. 



288 



