64 RAMBLESOF 



crickets, acheta campestris. These lively black 

 crickets are very numerous, and contribute very 

 largely to that general song which is so delightful 

 to the ear of the true lover of nature, as it rises 

 on the air from myriads of happy creatures rejoicing 

 amid the bounties conferred on them by Providence. 

 It is not a voice that the crickets utter, but a regu- 

 lar vibration of musical chords, produced by nibbing 

 the nervures of the elytra against a sort of network 

 intended to produce the vibrations. The reader 

 will find an excellent description of the apparatus 

 in Kirby and Spence's book, but he may enjoy a 

 much more satisfactory comprehension of the whole, 

 by visiting the field-cricket in his summer residence, 

 see him tuning his viol, and awakening the echoes 

 with his music. By such an examination as may 

 be there obtained, he may derive more knowledge 

 than by frequent perusal of the most eloquent wri- 

 tings, and perhaps observe circumstances which the 

 learned authors are utterly ignorant of. 



Among the great variety of burrows formed in 

 the grass, or under the surface of the soil, by 

 various animals and insects, there is one that I 

 have often anxiously and, as yet, fruitlessly ex- 

 plored. This burrow is formed by the smallest 

 quadruped animal known to man, the minute shrew, 

 which, when full grown, rarely exceeds the weight 

 of thirty-six grains. I had seen specimens of this 

 very interesting creature in the museum, and had 

 been taught, by a more experienced friend, to dis- 

 tinguish its burrow, which I have often perseve- 



