116 A NATURE WOOING. 



upon a bunch of grass, the color of which is grayish 



brown, like that of their backs. 



A long-winged male of the common field cricket, 



Gryllus pennsylvanicus Burm., is taken to-day. This 



appears to be the only species of Gryllus hereabouts 



at this season. The 

 short-winged form .is 

 much the more com- 

 mon, but four of the 

 long-winged ones being- 

 taken during the whole 



Fig. 37-A Field Cricket. o f m y collecting. The 



Gryllus pennsylvanicus Burm. . , 



species ranges over the 

 whole United States, and varies much in size. 



I note the remains of ferns high up on the cab- 

 bage palmettos, among the "boot jacks," just below 

 the crown of leaves. There they found nourishment 

 in the summer months, but the unwonted frosts have 

 sapped their vitality and left them brown and sere. 



If one wants peace and quiet, soothing sunshine 

 and balmy breezes, here is his ideal resting place on 

 such a day as this here in a pine and palmetto grove, 

 where the only sound is that of a falling leaf or 

 creaking branch, and where the woodsy odor of pines 

 is present day and night, 



March 29, 1899. Yesterday noon the mercury 

 stood at 92 ; last night at ten o'clock, at 80 ; this 

 morn, at five, it had sunk to 48. Such are the 

 changes to which one is subjected here in the "Land 



