124 FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



II 



His HOUSE 



It is a slanting gallery in the grass, on some sunny bank 

 which soon dries after a shower. It is nine inches long at 

 most, hardly as thick as one's finger, and straight or bent 

 according to the nature of the ground. As a rule, a tuft of 

 grass half conceals the home, serving as a porch and throw- 

 ing the entrance discreetly into shadow. When the Cricket 

 goes out to browse upon the surrounding turf he does not 

 touch this tuft. The gently sloping threshold, carefully raked 

 and swept, extends for some distance ; and this is the terrace 

 on which, when everything is peaceful round about, the 

 Cricket sits and scrapes his fiddle. 



The inside of the house is devoid of luxury, with bare and 

 yet not coarse walls. The inhabitant has plenty of leisure 

 to do away with any unpleasant roughness. At the end of 

 the passage is the bedroom, a little more carefully smoothed 

 than the rest, and slightly wider. All said, it is a very simple 

 abode, exceedingly clean, free from damp, and conforming to 

 the rules of hygiene. On the other hand, it is an enormous 

 undertaking, a gigantic tunnel, when we consider the modest 

 tools with which the Cricket has to dig. If we wish to know 

 how he does it, and when he sets to work, we must go back 

 to the time when the egg is laid. 



The Cricket lays her eggs singly in the soil, like the Decticus, 

 at a depth of three-quarters of an inch. She arranges them 

 in groups, and lays altogether about five or six hundred. The 

 egg is a little marvel of mechanism. After the hatching it 

 appears as an opaque white cylinder, with a round and very 

 regular hole at the top. To the edge of this hole is fastened 

 a cap, like a lid. Instead of bursting open anyhow under 

 the thrusts of the larva within, it opens of its own accord along 

 a circular line & specially prepared line of least resistance. 



About a fortnight after the egg is laid, two large, round, 



