THE CRICKET 123 



Bordeaux Cricket is not afraid to make his way into our 

 houses, where he sings discreetly, during August and Sep- 

 tember, in some cool, dark spot. 



There is no object in continuing these questions : the 

 answer would always be No. Instinct never tells us its 

 causes. It depends so little on an insect's stock of tools that 

 no detail of anatomy, nothing in the creature's formation, 

 can explain it to us or make us foresee it. These four similar 

 Crickets, of whom only one can burrow, are enough to show 

 us our ignorance of the origin of instinct. 



Who does not know the Cricket's house ? Who has not, 

 as a child playing in the fields, stopped in front of the hermit's 

 cabin ? However light your footfall, he has heard you coming, 

 and has abruptly withdrawn to the very bottom of his hiding- 

 place. When you arrive, the threshold of the house is deserted. 



Every one knows the way to bring out the skulker. 

 You insert a straw and move it gently about the burrow. 

 Surprised at what is happening above, the tickled and teased 

 Cricket ascends from his back-room ; he stops in the passage, 

 hesitates, and waves his delicate antennae inquiringly. He 

 comes to the light, and, once outside, he is easy to catch, 

 since these events have puzzled his poor head. Should he be 

 missed at the first attempt he may become suspicious and 

 refuse to appear. In that case he can be flooded out with a 

 glass of water. 



Those were adorable times when we were children, and 

 hunted Crickets along the grassy paths, and put them in cages, 

 and fed them on a leaf of lettuce. They all come back to me 

 to-day, those times, as I search the burrows for subjects to 

 study. They seem like yesterday when my companion, little 

 Paul, an expert in the use of the straw, springs up suddenly 

 after a long trial of skill and patience, and cries excitedly: 

 4 1 've got him ! I 've got him ! ' 



Quick, here 's a bag ! In you go, my little Cricket ! You 

 shall be petted and pampered, but you must teach us some- 

 thing, and first of all you must show us your house. 



