OF SELBOENE. 



271 



vinced by finding stragglers in a morning in improbable 

 places. In fine weather, about the middle of April, and 

 just at the close of day, they begin to solace themselves 

 with a low, dull, jarring note, continued for a long time 

 without interruption, and not unlike the chattering of the 

 fern-owl or goat- sucker, but more inward. 



MOLE CRICKET AND NEST. 



About the beginning of May they lay their eggs, as I 

 was once an eye-witness ; for a gardener, at a house where 

 I was on a visit, happening to be mowing, on the 6th of that 

 month, by the side of a canal, his scythe struck too deep, 

 pared off a large piece of turf, and laid open to view a 

 curious scene of domestic economy : 



" in^entem lato dedit ore fenestram : 



Apparet doinus intus, et atria longa patescunt : 

 Apparent penetralia." 



There were many caverns and winding passages leading 

 to a kind of chamber, neatly smoothed and rounded, and 

 about the size of a moderate snuff-box. Within this secret 



