HOUSE CRICKETS. 275 



paper cage, and set in the sun, and supplied with 

 plants moistened with water, will feed and thrive, 

 and become so merry and loud as to be irksome 

 in the same room where a person is sitting : if the 

 plants are not wetted, it will die. 



XL VII. 



" Far from all resort of mirth, 

 Save the cricket on the hearth." 



MILTON'S // Penseroso. 



WHILE many other insects must be sought 

 after in fields, and wood, and waters, the gryllus 

 domesticus, or house cricket, resides altogether 

 within our dwellings, intruding itself upon our 

 notice whether we will or no. This species de- 

 lights in new-built houses, being, like the spider, 

 pleased with the moisture of the walls ; and 

 besides, the softness of the mortar enables them 

 to burrow and mine between the joints of the 

 bricks or stones, and to open communications 

 from one room to another. They are particularly 

 fond of kitchens and bakers' ovens, on account of 

 their perpetual warmth 1 . 



Tender insects that live abroad either enjoy 

 only the short period of one summer, or else 

 doze away the cold, uncomfortable months in 



1 It is a common superstition in Dumfries -shire, that if the 

 crickets forsake a house which they have long inhabited, some 

 evil will befal the family generally the death of some mem- 

 ber is portended. In like manner, the presence or return of 

 this cheerful little insect is lucky, and portends some good to 

 the family. W. J. 



The same superstition prevails in the south and west of 

 Ireland. T. 



x2 



