178 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Agility of the young, as soon as excluded. 



by the cold ; and others that she is eaten by 

 worms; but certain it is, that neither the male 

 nor female are ever seen to survive the winter. 

 In the mean time, the eggs which have been de- 

 posited continue unaltered, either by the severity 

 of the season or the retardation of the spring. 

 They are of an oval figure, white, and of the 

 consistence of horn ; their size nearly equals that 

 of a grain of anise; they are enveloped in the 

 body within a covering, branched all over with 

 veins and arteries ; and whew excluded, they 

 crack, on being pressed between the fingers : 

 their substance within is a whitish, viscous, and 

 transparent fluid. Generally, about the begin- 

 ning of May, every egg produces an insect, 

 about the size of a flea; these, at first are of a 

 whitish colour; at the end of two or three days 

 they turn black; and soon after they become of 

 a reddish brown. They appear, from the begin- 

 ning, like grasshoppers wanting wings; and hop 

 among the grass, as soon as excluded, with great 

 agility. 



These insects appear out of their subterraneous 

 habitations about sun-set ; but they are so shy 

 and cautious, that it is very difficult to get a 

 sight of them; for feeling a person's footsteps as 

 he advances, they stop short in the midst of their 

 song, and retire backward nimbly into their bur- 

 rows, where they lurk till ail suspicion of danger 

 is over. The llev. Mr. White, of Selborne, who 

 attentively studied their habits and manners, af 



3 



