264 LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE. 



the surer he is of attention. After a short, happy sum- 

 mer, their voices gradually weaken; they strip off their 

 delicate dress, which is so thin that it looks upon paper 

 like a faint pencil-drawing; they eat it with apparent de- 

 light, and soon after vanish from the sight of man. Si- 

 lent and benumbed, they sink again into the ground, to 

 pass the cold season in quiet, unbroken slumber. 



