The Life of the Grasshopper 



of the Common Cicada and is known in the 

 district by the name of the Cacan, a fairly- 

 accurate imitation of his peculiar rattle. This 

 is the Ash Cicada of the naturalists; and he 

 is far more alert and more suspicious than 

 the first. His harsh loud song consists of a 

 series of Can! Can! Can! Can! with not 

 a pause to divide the ode into strophes. Its 

 monotony and its harsh shrillness make it a 

 most unpleasant ditty, especially when the 

 orchestra is composed of some hundreds of 

 executants, as happens in my two plane-trees 

 during the dog-days. At such times it is as 

 though a heap of dry walnuts were being 

 shaken in a bag until the shells cracked. 

 This irritating concert, a veritable torment, 

 has only one slight advantage about it: the 

 Ash Cicada does not start quite so early in 

 the morning as the Common Cicada and does 

 not sit up so late at night. 



Although constructed on the same funda- 

 mental principles, the vocal apparatus dis- 

 plays numerous peculiarities which give the 

 song its special character. The sound- 

 chamber is entirely lacking, which means that 

 there is no entrance-window either. The 

 cymbal is uncovered, just behind the insertion 

 of the hind-wing. It again is a dry, white 



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