CHIRP OF THE MOLE CRICKET. 79 



disgusting odor. This is perhaps its most effi- 

 cient means of defense. 



While I was indirectly the cause of this trag- 

 edy and a witness to it, my sympathies were 

 wholly with the snake. I protested against the 

 dogs being allowed to worry it, but my host 

 claimed that he had recently found two of these 

 snakes in a hen's nest, and that one of them had 

 swallowed four of the eggs. He had therefore 

 sworn vengeance upon all cow snakes, and this 

 one was destined to be a martyr to its kind. I 

 could but plead, and that vainly, for the rep- 

 tile's life, and was sorry that I had not left it 

 peacefully sunning on the apricot limb. 



From the boggy ground along the stream be- 

 fore me comes the iterated chirp of the mole 

 cricket, loud, clear, resounding. From a greater 

 distance comes an answering call, which is more 

 rapid and of a purring nature. I try to time 

 the notes of the first, but find it impossible, as 

 each time I get mixed about the sixteenth to 

 eighteenth point. I should judge, however, that 

 they run about 120 per minute. I have heard 

 these crickets in many portions of the State and 



