274' FIELD CRICKETS. 



become louder as the summer advances, and so 

 die away again by degrees. 



Sounds do not always give us pleasure accord- 

 ing to their sweetness and melody ; nor do harsh 

 sounds always displease. We are more apt to 

 be captivated or disgusted with the associations 

 which they promote, than with the notes them- 

 selves. Thus the shrilling of the field-cricket, 

 though sharp and stridulous, yet marvellously 

 delights some hearers, filling their minds with a 

 train of summer ideas of every thing that is rural, 

 verdurous, and joyous. 



About the 10th of March, the crickets appear 

 at the mouths of their cells, which they then 

 open and bore, and shape very elegantly. All 

 that ever I have seen at that season were in their 

 pupa state, and had only the rudiments of wings 

 lying under a skin, or coat, which must be cast 

 before the insect can arrive at its perfect state * ; 

 from whence I should suppose that the old ones 

 of last year do not always survive the winter. In 

 August, their holes begin to be obliterated, and 

 the insects are seen no more till spring. 



Not many summers ago, I endeavoured to 

 transplant a colony to the terrace in my garden, 

 by boring deep holes in the sloping turf. The 

 new inhabitants staid some time, and fed and 

 sung; but wandered away by degrees, and were 

 heard at a farther distance every morning; so 

 that it appears that on this emergency they made 

 use of their wings in attempting to return to the 

 spot from which they were taken. 



One of these crickets, when confined in a 



1 We have observed that they cast these skins in April, 

 which are then seen lying at the mouths of their holes. 



12 



