SONGS OF THE WOODS 



glass bowl, the horny plate of the wing giving it 

 great resonance. It appears to be pitched to A 

 below middle C, though some may be A sharp or 

 even B. The overtones make it difficult to deter- 

 mine the pitch. The chirping keeps up a good 

 part of the night, and in the wee small hours takes 

 on an uncertain quaver, as if the little singer 

 had fallen asleep and were droning drowsily in its 

 slumbers. 



An inseft which may % be the same one cer- 

 tainly an allied species has a day-song somewhat 

 different from this song of the night, a shrilling 

 in place of a chirp. This is made by elevating 

 the wings in the same manner as at night, but 

 instead of rubbing them one across the other in 

 regular time, they are rapidly and continuously 

 vibrated like an eledtric bell. The rapidity of the 

 vibration raises the pitch, though the quality of 

 the tone is but little different. 



There is in this day-song no suggestion of the 

 blistering, feverish shrill of the dog-day cicada, 

 but a far-off dreamy sound. A little before sunset 

 it gradually gives way to that of the night. Day 

 inevitably inspires one song and night another, as 

 if these reacted to bring out two sets of emotions. 



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