I50 TRUE TALES OF THE INSECTS. 



The whole strongly recalls the slow turning of a child's 

 wooden rattle, ending by a sudden jerk of the same." 



From the setting of the sun till he begins to shed his 

 rays in the East, these noisy choristers, during their 

 most active period, will have it, with never an hour's re- 

 mission, that " Katy did " — the species being so numerous 

 that the sound as it comes from the woods is one pro- 

 longed rattling. Scudder states that these katydids sing 

 both by day and night, but their day song differs from 

 that of the night. " On a summer's day it is curious to 

 observe these little creatures suddenly changing from the 

 day to the night song at the mere passing of a cloud, 

 and returning to the old note when the sky is clear. By 

 imitating the two songs in the daytime, the grasshoppers 

 can be made to respond to either at will ; at night, they 

 have but one note." 



These Insects make quite Interesting Pets. 



As with the species of the Amazon valley, they make 

 interesting pets ; they are even susceptible to domestica- 

 tion to a slight extent. Commendably neat in their 

 ways, one of the most curious habits is an incessant 

 polishing of the wings, legs, and antennce. Riley says 

 M. retinerve brushes its face over with the front legs, 

 just as a cat washes herself with her fore paws, and bestows 



