222 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS 



produce are said to form the words " Katy-did, 0-she-did, 

 Katy-did-she-did." The first of these extraordinary 

 concerts is heard about mid- July ; by mid-August they 

 are in full song. By others the sounds have been likened 

 to those produced by the slow turning of a child's rattle, 

 ending in a sudden jerk ; and this prolonged rattling, 

 which is peculiar to the male, is always answered by a 

 single, sharp " chirp " or " tschick " from one or more 

 females, who produce the sound by a sudden upward jerk 

 of the wings. 



Pride of place, however, among insect performances 

 of this kind must surely be awarded to the Cicadas, which 

 are notoriously the noisiest members of the Insect world, 

 far eclipsing the shrill calls of the Grasshoppers and 

 even of tlie Crickets. Darwin remarks that the noise they 

 made could " be plainly heard on board the Beagle when 

 anchored off Brazil at a quarter of a mile from the shore; 

 and Captain Hancock says it can be heard at a distance 

 of a mile. The Greeks formerly kept, and the Chinese 

 now keep, these insects in cages for the sake of their 

 song, so that it must be pleasing to the ears of some men." 

 Only the males sing, the females being completely dumb, 

 and this prompted the Greek poet Xenarchus to make 

 the now famous rei-iark, " Happy the Cicadas' lives, for 

 they have voiceless wives." Another naturalist, Riley, 

 says : " The general noise, on approaching the infested 

 woods, is a combination of that of a distant threshing- 

 machine and a distant frog-pond." Another species, 

 ^ympanoterpes gigas, also Brazilian, is said to make a 

 noise equal to the whistle of a locomotive : recalling 

 that of a nest of young snakes, or young birds, when 

 disturbed — a sort of scream. They can also prociuce a 

 chirp like that of a Cricket and a very loud, shrill screech 



