44 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXVI 



five times, not including the hatching month. 

 At the third moult, the wing pads become dis- 

 tinctly visible and with the succeeding change 

 assume larger proportions, until, at the final moult, 

 the insect is adorned with the wings that proclaim 

 it fully developed. Growth is now at an end and 

 new activities are entered into. 



Flight comes first, as the now fully developed 

 grasshopper has an instinctive desire to see the 

 world. But there are other considerations also. 

 The attainment of wings has provided at the same 

 time a musical instrument for the male with 

 which he charms his lady-love into admiration 

 for his accomplishments. 



The instinct of migration is one of the most 

 remarkable in the animal kingdom. It seems to 

 arise from a desire in each species to spread as 

 far as possible over the land. It has very little 

 to do with food supply in grasshoppers, but 

 appears to be more an effort to prevent over- 

 crowding, and thus escape disease and enemies of 

 other kinds. The provision in some species is 

 wonderful in its completeness. There are long- 

 v/inged, medium-winged and short-winged ones. 

 Think of the result; the strong-winged ones 

 move for a field, the medium-winged to compara- 

 tively nearby places, while those with short wings 

 remain to carry on the race close at hand. 



The main period of flight begins soon after the 

 grasshoppers obtain wings, but flying continues 

 intermittently for more than a month. The 

 flights always commence in bright sunshine and 



end as soon as the sun becomes overcast or when 

 the shades of evening show that the day is draw- 

 ing to a close. 



The music of grasshoppers is usually produced 

 by rubbing the hind legs bow-like against a 

 specially developed object upon the wings, but 

 in some cases the wings themselves are rubbed 

 together. Each kind of grasshopper that can 

 play at all has its own paiticular music which 

 can be told without much difficulty from that of 

 others. You know how crickets chirp. The 

 Green Tree Cricket has a steady trill which is 

 noted most in August, hence the name Harvester 

 which is sometimes applied to this insect. The 

 Katydid gets its name from the song it sings, 

 "kai-y-did." It is not a Manitoba insect but we 

 have some close allies which cry "she-secs-me" 

 with great persistency although it is pitch dark. 

 For the Katydids are night singers and avoid the 

 sun as much as the locusts seek it. The crickets 

 are also night singers unless they find some 

 darkened place beneath some object, in which 

 case they sing all day as well. This music, which 

 begins with the warmth of spring, ceases as the 

 nights grow long and cold in autumn. There are 

 a few kinds of Orthoptera that play on into late 

 October, but the majority are then silent, and, as 

 winter draws near, the music of the insect world 

 grows mute and the lives that were so animate 

 are cold in death. 



(To be continued.) 



THE SUMMER BIRDS OF ADVOCATE, CUMBERLAND COUNTY. NOVA SCOTIA 



By Charles W. Townsend, M.D. 



Nearly midway between Cape Chignecto and 

 Cape d'Or, and washed by the tides of the Bay of 

 Fundy as they rush in and out of the Basin of 

 Minas, lies the little village of Advocate. Pleasant- 

 ly introduced by Dr. John W. Dewis of Boston, a 

 native of this place and a fellow ornithologist, my 

 wife and I sp'nt here the last few days of June 

 and the first three weeks of July, 1921, in search- 

 ing out the birds. Our steps led us to Cape d'Or 

 on the east and Refugee Cove near Cape Chignecto 

 on the west. We also spent five days at Isle 

 Haute, which was discovered by Champlain in 

 1604 and accurately described in his "Narrative." 

 He says: "Heading northeast nine or ten leagues, 

 coasting from Port Royal (Annapolis), we crossed 

 a part of thr; Bay som? five or six leagues in 

 breadth to a place which we named the Cape of 

 Two Bays (Cape Chignecto), and we pas.sed by 

 an island (Isle Hautej which is a league from it 



and which is about that distance in circumference, 

 and is some forty or fifty fathoms in elevation. 

 It is entirely surrounded by great rocks excepting 

 in one place where there is a slope, at the foot of 

 which is a pond of salt water, which lies at the 

 base of a gravel point having the form of a spur. 

 The top of the island is flat, covered with trees, 

 and it has a very good spring." 



Champlain also described and charted Advocate 

 Harbor, which he called Port des Mines from 

 the copper mines at Cape d'Or. To his attributes 

 of explorer, cartographer and historian, that of 

 bird-lover may be added, as the following extract 

 from his "Narrative" shows. Speaking of his 

 garden at Port Royal he says: "We often went 

 there to pass the time, and it seemed as if the 

 little birds around took pleasure in it, for they 

 gathered there in such numbers, singing and 

 warbling so charmingly that I do not think 1 



