142 SHARP EYES 



fiddlers, being clothed in a nap of mottled gray and 

 ochre yellow. Unlike most beetles, the head is set 

 upon the body with the face looking directly in front,, 

 and the expression of that face, with its almond-shaped 

 black eyes, as it peers around the edge of a twig with 

 nodding accompaniment, lends a comic element to the 

 musical performance. This is the Saperda calcarata. 

 His musical instrument is unique in the insect orches- 

 tra. It is not a fiddle, nor a click -wheel, nor a drum, 

 nor a timbrel. It is a musical collar, from which he 

 literally grinds out the music with the back of his head, 

 into which it sets as in a socket. At least such seems 

 to be his method. If not, which of my boy readers will 

 tell us more about this queer squeak of the Saperda? 

 'Now is the time to find him. Hunt among the poplar 

 branches. 



If we care to search among the golden - rod blossoms 

 we may find many specimens of another similar musi- 

 cian, the Painted Clytus, a beautiful creature nearly an 

 inch long, banded with yellow and sable, sipping among 

 the blossoms, and squeaking contentedly at the feast. 



