250 



NATURE'S CALENDAR 



November 26 



sidewise, so that the file and scraper rasp 

 upon each other.'" 



Substantially the same process and ap- 

 paratus produce the similar sounds ot 

 the various locusts and grasshoppers, 

 which are near relatives of the crickets 

 and some of which are still heard. 



In respect to one of them some inter- 

 esting facts may be learned at this season. 

 If you will examine the canes of the rasp- 

 berries in your garden, you are likely to 

 find one, here and there, marked with a 

 long sinuous scar. Split open such a 

 cane, and you will find beneath each of 

 the line of punctures that forms the scar 

 a long, cucumber-shaped, yellowish e^g'g ; 

 and sometimes forty or fifty of these eggs 

 will fill the hollow of the cane - pith, 

 packed side by side, like a bunch of cigars, 

 stored until spring. These are the eggs 

 of the snowy cricket, a near relative of 

 the common crickets, but ivory white, 

 with almost transparent wings, and in 

 habiting trees and shrubs instead of the 

 ground. It feeds largely on the plant-lice 

 (aphides), whose eggs now form patches 

 upon the roots, bark, or twigs of trees in 

 vast numbers, prepared for hibernation, 

 and forming a large part of the winter 

 fare of certain small birds, especially the 

 chicadee. Grape-vines, plum twigs, and 

 some other garden shrubs are bored by 

 the snowy tree crickets in this way, and 

 now and then considerable damage re- 

 sults. 



November 27 



