172 



NOCTURNAL NOISES 



monotone. As the darkness increases, various nocturnal 

 creatures come forth from their hiding-places, and every now 

 and then pounce on their unconscious prey. Keep awake a 

 while and listen to the strange and, for the most part, mysteri- 

 ous sounds. Suddenly there is a terrific scream. Some bird 

 or beastie finds itself all at once in the jaws of death. And 

 what is that ceaseless creaking throughout the night ? Fancy 

 or fear pictures some strange hobgoblin ; it is, however, nothing 

 but the leaves of a screw-pine twisted and strained by the 

 breeze. And what is that remarkable string of sounds for all 

 the world like water bubbling out a bottle ? It is the Toloho, 

 a kind of cuckoo, disturbed in its night's repose. And then, at 

 regular intervals, ' kow-kow-koo, kow-kow-koo ' ; what is that ? 

 Another cuckoo, the Kankdfotra, which never seems to go to 

 sleep. From the stream or marsh close by there rises the 

 unmusical croak of the frogs. After an interval of silence, you 

 first of all hear a single croak, then another, and another, until 

 gradually there arises a perfect chorus, which is kept up through- 

 out the night. The tree-frogs also, perched on the leaves, not 

 a whit behind their cousins in the marsh, pass the night in 

 croaking. Numerous other strange and weird noises are to be 

 heard during the night in the forest, but from what throats they 

 proceed it is beyond me tojsay." 



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Epeira Madagascariensis 



