INSECT VARIETY. 225 



trees and shrubs, and the varied hue of their foliage, I suddenly 

 heard, clear and shrill through the evening air, a whistle as 

 distinct as that of a loconaotive. The whistling continued more 

 or less until sunset, when it gradually ceased. Upon inquiring 

 of one of the natives what this was caused by, he informed me it 

 was the cry of the Tree-locust. 



"This creature, considering its size, is gifted with a wonder- 

 fully powerful and peculiar voice. Let my reader suppose he is 

 standing in some secluded spot, in a forest with lofty trees all 

 round him. There is not a breath of air stirring, and hardly a 

 sound save, perhaps, the hum of a wandering bee, the Avhirr of a 

 passing humming-bird, or the rustle of a lizard amongst the 

 dead leaves, to interrupt the oppressive stillness of a tropical 

 afternoon. Suddenly, from right above, you hear one or two 

 hoarse, monotonous cries, something like the croak of a Tree-frog, 

 and looking upwards, wonder what it can be; but wait a 

 moment, this is merely a signal, for the next minute everywhere 

 above and around you these croaks are rejjeated in rapid and in- 

 creasing succession until they merge into a long shrill whistle, 

 almost exactly similar to the whistle of a first-rate locomotive ; 

 this continues for nearly half a minute, and then abruptly ter- 

 minates, and everything for a short time becomes as still as 

 before, but presently similar cries will be heard in the far dis- 

 tance, as if in reply to those which have just died away over- 

 head. The whistling pierces one^s ears to such a degree that 

 its vibrations can be felt long after it has ceased.""^ This 

 species manifestly performs in the fashion of the Tettigonia 

 plebeja. 



The time of song of the European cicadse is the summer 

 solstice; they take up the song of the crickets of the vernal 



* Ent. Mon. Mag., Vol. XI., p. 175 : — " In the forests of the Amazons the 

 species of cicada sing from sunrise to sunset, and at intervals [through the 

 afternoon heat. At this time the vocal music of bird and mammal is hushed, 

 leaves become lax and drooping, and flowers shed their petals. — Bates, "^Natural. 

 on Eiver Amazons," pp. 105, 230, and 26. In the north of India the music of 

 the cicadse begins at sunrise, like the alarm of a clock or tic-tac of machinery. 

 In Pennsylvania the cicada? appear in incredible numbers in the middle of May, 

 and are described as "bending and even breaking down the limbs of the trees by 

 their weight, while the woods resound with the din of their discordant drums 

 from morn to eve." 



