MEADOW SINGERS. 



103 



scraping or rubbing his legs against his hard-shell 

 wing covers ; he is, in fact, a veritable fiddler in the 

 grand orchestra of the meadow. One musician does 

 not count for much in the noontime sym- 

 phony of the singing wings, but when two 

 hundred thousand bowstrings are in full 

 swing there can be no doubt about 

 who supplies the orchestra with its 

 first violins ! Although the lo- 

 cust's music is but an obligato ac- 

 companiment to the high-pitched, 

 ringing voices of the soloists, it 

 soothes the ear with a drowsy x , Left wing of CE. ni- 

 hum, which is the very embodi- 

 ment of midsummer peace and 

 " audible stillness." 



A rather large locust (Tri- 

 merotropis verruculata) is quite 

 common on the intervales of the 

 White Mountain district. This 

 creature flies like a bird, and snaps 

 his wings at will during his devi- 

 ous flight. He skims along with a 

 sudden Mack, Mack, Hack, Mack, 

 and gives a dip at each " klack," much in the same 

 fashion that the yellowbird utters its joyous chirrup 

 during its undulating flight through the twilight sky. 



veus, showing the 

 portion from A to B 

 used for singing. Z, 

 Left wing of Orche- 

 limuin, showing the 

 vein in black at C 

 used for singing. Both 

 drawings are copied 

 from cuts found in 

 several publications 

 neither are true to 

 nature ; compare with 

 the succeeding draw- 

 ing of niveus wing, 

 and the wing on draw- 

 ing of Orchelhnum. 



