4*76 Canadian Record of Science. 



that about a month after its appearance a smaller kind 

 appeared, and that then a deadly feud arose in which many 

 of the larger kind were killed. But none of my informants 

 in the County of Pictou know anything of this second 

 species. 



3. Rise and progress of the plague. — Mr. Graham says that 

 they began to multiply the previous year and did some 

 damage. But in the County of Pictou, my informants 

 generally state that they did not appear in such numbers as 

 to excite notice. Probably in particular places, such as 

 Stewiacke, which was situated, it might be said, in the 

 midst of a large hardwood forest, they appeared sooner than 

 in others. 



But toward the end of winter they began to arrest atten- 

 tion. Those engaged in making maple sugar were troubled 

 by their fouling their troughs for gathering sap. At this 

 time, Dr. McDonald says that they were so numerous that 

 a fall of two or three inches of snow was literally packed 

 down by their feet in a short time ; and before planting was 

 over, the woods and fields alike swarmed with them. Gen- 

 erally their appearance in the clearings was sudden. One 

 day they might not appear in a field, and the next they 

 might be found in dozens or in hundreds. The seed grain, 

 sown early, generally escaped them, but the later sown and 

 the seed potatoes suffered from them. A story is told of a 

 man who had made a clearing in the woods and carried out 

 a quantity of oats to sow upon it. But on commencing his 

 work they came in such swarms around him, eating the 

 grain as he sowed it, that after continuing a while he threw 

 the whole to them and returned home in disgust. 



4. Their numbers and ravages. — By midsummer they 

 swarmed everywhere. Every observer speaks of them as 

 being in prodigious numbers — "in millions" was the com- 

 mon expression. In mowing, a cut of the scythe would not 

 be made without killing some. They were bold too, and 

 actually fierce. If pursued, when hard pressed, they would 

 stand at bay, sitting upon their haunches, setting their 

 teeth and squealing viciously. The males fought like little 

 terriers. On passing a field one might hear them squealing 



