The Cricket: the Burrow 



able to lodge himself to perfection. He has 

 a home, an advantage unknown to many 

 civilized beings; he has a peaceful retreat, 

 the first condition of comfort; and nobody 

 around him is capable of settling down. He 

 has no rivals until you come to ourselves. 



Whence does he derive this gift? Is he 

 favoured with special tools? No, the 

 Cricket is not an incomparable excavator; 

 in fact, one is rather surprised at the result 

 when one considers the feebleness of his re- 

 sources. 



Can it be made necessary by the demands 

 of an exceptionally delicate skin? No, 

 among his near kinsmen, other skins, no less 

 sensitive than his, do not dread the open air 

 at all. 



Can it be a propensity inherent in the 

 anatomical structure, a talent prescribed by 

 the secret promptings of the organism? No, 

 my neighbourhood boasts three other 

 Crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus, DE Geer; G. 

 desertus, PALLAS. ; G. burdigalensis ;Latr.) , 

 who are so like the Field Cricket in appear- 

 ance, colour and structure that, at the first 

 glance, one would take them for him. The 

 first is as large as he is, or even larger. The 

 second represents him reduced to about half 



309 



