l I . , Field-crickets are so shy and cautious that it is no 



easy matter to get a sight of them ; for, feeling a 



person's footsteps as he advances, they stop short 



in the midst of their song, and retire backward nimbly into their 



burrows, where they lurk till all suspicion of danger is over. 



Sitting in the entrance of their caverns, they chirp all night as 

 well as day, from the middle of the month of May to the middle of 

 July ; and in hot weather, when they are most vigorous, they make 

 the hills echo ; and in the still hours of darkness, may be heard to a 

 considerable distance. In the beginning of the season their notes 

 are more faint and inward; but become louder as the summer 

 advances, and so die away again by degrees. 



Sounds do not always give us pleasure according to their sweet- 

 ness and melody ; nor do harsh sounds always displease. We are 

 more apt to be captivated or disgusted with the associations which 

 they promote than with the notes themselves. Thus the shrilling of 

 the field-cricket, though sharp and stridulous, yet marvellously 

 delights some hearers, filling their minds with a train of summer 

 ideas of everything that is rural, verdurous, and joyous. 



House- 



l I k * While many other insects must be sought after 



in fields, and woods, and waters, the house-cricket 

 resides altogether within our dwellings, intruding 

 itself upon our notice whether we will or no. This species delights 

 in new-built houses, being, like the spider, pleased with the 

 moisture of the walls ; and, besides, the softness of the mortar 

 enables them to burrow and mine between the joints of the bricks 

 or stones, and to open communications from one room to another. 

 They are particularly fond of kitchens and bakers' ovens, on account 

 of their perpetual warmth. 



Tender insects that live abroad either enjoy only the short period 

 of one summer, or else doze away the cold uncomfortable months in 

 profound slumbers ; but these, residing as it were in a torrid zone, 

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