CONTENTS xi 



PAGES 



Moses Harris Why moths have English names Origin of the 

 dragon-fly's bad reputation Cordulegaster annulatus Calo- 

 pteryx virgo Dragon flies congregated Glow-worm Firefly 

 and glow-worm compared Variability in light The insect's 

 attitude when shining Supposed use of the light Hornets 

 A long-remembered sting The hornet local in England A 

 splendid insect Insects on ivy blossoms in autumn . . 121-144 



CHAPTER VII 



Great and greatest among insects Our feeling for insect 

 music Crickets and grasshoppers Cicada anglica Locusta 

 viridissima Character of its music Colony of green grass- 

 hoppers Harewood Forest Purple emperor Grasshoppers' 

 musical contests The naturalist mocked Female viridissima 

 Over-elaboration in the male Habits of female Wooing of the 

 male by the female . 145-166 



CHAPTER VIII 



Hampshire, north and south A spot abounding in life 

 Lyndhurst A white spider Wooing spider's antics A New 

 Forest little boy Blonde gipsies The boy and the spider 

 A distant world of spiders Selborne and its visitors Selborne 

 revisited An owl at Alton A wagtail at the Wakes The 

 cockerel and the martin Heat at Selborne House crickets 

 Gilbert White on crickets A colony of field crickets Water 

 plants Musk mallow Girl buntings at Selborne Evening 

 gatherings of swifts at Selborne Locustidse Thamnotrizon 

 cinereus English names wanted Black grasshopper's habits 

 and disposition Its abundance at Selborne .... 167-197 



CHAPTER IX 



The Selborne atmosphere Unhealthy faces Selborne Com- 

 mon Character of scenery Wheatham Hill Hampshire village 

 churches Gilbert White's strictures Churches big and little 

 The peasants' religious feeling Charm of old village churches 

 Seeking Priors Dean Privett Church Blackmoor Church 

 Churchyards Change in gravestones Beauty of old grave- 

 stones Ked alga on gravestones Yew trees in churchyards 

 British dragon-tree Farringdon village and yew Crowhurst 

 yew Hurst bourne Priors yew How yew trees are injured . 198-222 



