NATURE'S CALENDAR 227 



after the larger changeable tree-toad has October 20 



been silenced. ' 



As the October days grow shorter and 

 the month draws to a close, insect life 

 lessens. The cicadas cease their incessant 

 chorus, though the loud calling of mole 

 crickets is still heard, and gnats and flies 

 still dance in the golden sunlight. The 

 butterflies that last on into the fall, being 

 outwardly of the dull-hued sorts, are in- 

 conspicuous among the falling and som- 

 bre foliage. One curiosity of butterfly life 

 is often noticeable at this season along 

 the southern coast in the habit of the 

 milkweed butterfly {Ancsia ple.xippiis) of 

 swarming on the branches of trees in such 

 masses as to reclothe them apparently 

 with the leaves that have lately fallen. 

 These hosts of butterflies are migrating. 



Crickets are, perhaps, the most notice- 

 able of the larger insects, leaping about 

 our feet wherever we go along the dusty 

 roads or in sandy places. They fall 

 into hopeless captivity in little sand-pits, 

 and tumble headlong into the water, 

 where the pickerel lie in wait along the 

 banks to snatch them down. It is amus- 

 ing, also, to watch them "shinning" up 

 a tall bare weed to get something on its 

 summit. " Their still larger cousins, the 

 mole-crickets, are creaking loudly and 

 incessantly all along the shore. Others 

 have eaten themselves cavernous apart- 

 ments, sitting-room and pantry at once, 

 in windfall apples." 



October 21 



