CHAPTER XVII 



THE LOCUSTS: THEIR FUNCTION; THEIR 

 ORGAN OF SOUND 



"1\/riND you are ready, children, to- 



-*-*-*- morrow morning, before the sun gets 

 too hot: we are going Locust-hunting." 



This announcement throws the household 

 into great excitement at bed-time. What do 

 my little helpmates see in their dreams? 

 Blue wings, red wings, suddenly flung out 

 fanwise; long, saw-toothed legs, pale-blue or 

 pink, which kick out when we hold their 

 owners in our fingers; great shanks acting as 

 springs that make the insect leap forward 

 like a projectile shot from some dwarf 

 catapult hidden in the grass. 



What they behold in sleep's sweet magic 

 lantern I also happen to see. Life lulls us 

 with the same simple things in its first stages 

 and its last. 



If there be one peaceful and safe form of 

 hunting, one that comes within the powers of 



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