CRICKET. 



CROW. 



most thighs being always somewhat lighter. In 

 the brownish-coloured varieties, three longitu- 

 dinal black lines are distinctly visible on the 

 top of the head, and a black line on each side 

 of the thorax, which is continued along the 

 sides of the wing-covers to their tips. This 

 black line on the wing-covers is never want- 

 ing, even in the darkest varieties. The hind- 

 most thighs have on the outside three rows of 

 short oblique black lines, presenting somewhat 

 of a twilled appearance. This is one of the 

 social species, which, associated together in 

 great swarms, and feeding in common, fre- 

 quent our meadows and roadsides, and, so 

 far from avoiding the light of day, seem to 

 be quite as fond of it as others are of darkness. 

 It may be called dcheta vittala, the striped 

 cricket 



"These kinds of crickets live upon the 

 ground, and among the grass and low herbage; 

 but there is another kind which inhabits the 

 stems and branches of shrubs and trees, con- 

 cealing itself during the daytime among the 

 leaves or in the flowers of these plants. The 

 males begin to be heard about the middle of 

 August, and do not leave us until after the 

 middle of September. Their shrilling is ex- 

 cessively loud, and is produced, like that. of 

 other crickets, by the rubbing of one wing- 

 cover against the other. These insects have 

 been separated from the other crickets under 

 the generical name of (Ecanthus, a word which 

 means inhabiting flowers. They may be called 

 climbing crickets, from their habit of mounting 

 upon plants, and dwelling among the leaves 

 and flowers. According to M. Salvi, the female 

 makes several perforations in the tender stems 

 of plants, and in each perforation thrusts two 

 eggs quite to the pith. The eggs are hatched 

 about midsummer, and the young immediately 

 issue from their nests and conceal themselves 

 among the thickest foliage of the plant. When 

 arrived at maturity, the males begin their noc- 

 turnal serenade at the approach of twilight, 

 and continue it, with little or no intermission, 

 till the dawn of day. Should one of these little 

 musicians get admission to the chamber, his 

 incessant and loud shrilling will effectually 

 banish sleep. Of three species which inhabit 

 the United States, one only is found in Massa- 

 chusetts. It is the CEcanthus niveus, or white 

 climbing cricket. The male is ivory-white, 

 with the upper side of the first joint of the an- 

 tennae, and the head between the eyes, of an 

 ochre-yellow colour ; there is a minute black 

 dot on the under-sides of the first and second 

 joints of the antennae; and, in some indivi 

 duals, the extremities of the feet and the under 

 sides of the hindmost thighs are ochre-yellow. 

 The body is about half an inch long, exclusive 

 of the wing-covers. The female is usually 

 rather longer, but the wing-covers are much 

 narrower than those of the male, and there is 

 a great diversity of colouring in this sex ; the 

 body being sometimes almost white, or pale 

 greenish yellow, or dusky, and blackish be- 

 neath. There are three dusky stripes on the 

 head and thorax, and the legs, antennae, and 

 piercer are more or less dusky or blackish 

 The^wing-covers and wings are yellowish 

 while, sometimes with a -tinge of green, and 

 366 



the wings are rather longer than the covers." 

 (Harris on Destructive Insects.") 



CROCUS. A well-known bulbous plant, of 

 which there are many varieties, all handsome. 

 Plant in clumps; move them once in three 

 years, to separate the offsets ; they like a good 

 light soil. Plant them two inches deep in the 

 ground. Smith (Eng. Flor. vol. i. p. 46, and vol. 

 iv. p. 262), describes four species of native 

 English crocuses, viz., the saffron crocus, pur- 

 ple spring crocus, naked flowering crocus, and 

 net-rooted crocus. See SAFFRON. 



CRONES. A provincial word applied to 

 the different descriptions of old ewes. * 



CROOK. A provincial term applied to a 

 hook* as a yat-crook means a gate-hook. 



GROOM. A provincial term applied to an 

 implement with crooked or hooked prongs. 

 There are muck-crooms, turnip-crooms, &c. 

 It is sometimes written Crome. 



CROP. The produce or quantity of grain, 

 roots, or grass, &c. grown on a piece of land 

 at one time ; hence we have grain, root, and 

 green crops. There is an able paper in the 

 Quart. Journ. of jlgr. vol. i. p. 55, by Mr. Henry 

 Stephens, on the causes of destruction to crops, 

 which may be consulted with advantage by the 

 farmer. For course of crops, see ROTATION OF 

 CHOPS. 



CROPPING. An operation performed with 

 a pair of shears, on the ears of horses, dogs, or 

 Other animals. 



CROSS-FURROW. The grip or furrow 

 which receives the superfluous rain-water 

 from the outer furrows, and conveys it from 

 the land into a ditch or other outlet The ope- 

 ration of making these cross-furrows is some- 

 times performed by the spade, and at others by 

 the plough. 



CROTCH. A country term for a hook. 



CROW, THE CARRION (Corvus corone). 

 The carrion crow, like the raven which it so 

 much resembles, is a denizen of nearly every 

 part of the world. Crows are even found in 

 New Holland and the Phillipine islands of the 

 Pacific Ocean. They are comparatively rare 

 in northern latitudes, where the raven most 

 abounds. The crow is exceedingly mischiev- 

 ous in his depredations about farms and dwell- 

 ings, where he sucks eggs, carries off chickens 

 and other young broods. But the most serious 

 mischief of which the crow is guilty in the 

 United States, is that of pillaging the fields of 

 Indian corn. He commences at the planting 

 time, by rooting out the grain as soon as the 

 sprout shows above the ground, and in autumn, 

 when the crop ripens, flocks, sometimes suffi- 

 cient to blacken the fields, do extensive da- 

 mage. 



'- The crow," says Nuttall, " like many other 

 birds, becomes injurious and formidable only 

 in the gregarious season, at other times they 

 live so scattered, and are so shy and cautious, 

 that they are but seldom seen. But their ar- 

 mies, like all other and terrific assemblies, have 

 the power, in limited districts, of doing very 

 sensible mischief to the agricultural interests 

 of the community; and, in consequence, the 

 poor crow, notwithstanding his obvious ser- 

 vices in the destruction of vast hosts of insects 

 and their larvae, is proscribed as a felon in all 



