OF SELBORNE 215 



wings in attempting to return to the spot from which they 

 were taken. 



One of these crickets, when confined in a paper cage and 

 set in the sun, and supplied with plants moistened with 

 water, will feed and thrive, and become so merry and loud 

 as to be irksome in the same room where a person is sit- 

 ting : if the plants are not wetted it will die. 



LETTER XLVII 

 TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON 



Sel borne. 



Dear Sir, 



" Far from all resort of mirth 

 Save the cricket on the hearth." — Milton's II Penseroso. 



While many other insects must be sought after in fields and 

 woods, and waters, the gryllus domesticus, or house cricket, 

 resides altogether within our dwellings, intruding itself 

 upon our notice whether we will or no. This species 

 delights in new-built houses, being, like the spider, pleased 

 with the moisture of the walls ; and besides, the softness of 

 the mortar enables them to burrow and mine between the 

 joints of the bricks or stones, and to open communications 

 from one room to another. They are particularly fond of 

 kitchens and bakers' ovens, on account of their perpetual 

 warmth. 



Tender insects that live abroad either enjoy only the 

 short period of one summer, or else doze away the cold 

 uncomfortable months in profund slumbers ; but these, 

 residing as it were in a torrid zone, are always alert and 

 merry : a good Christmas fire is to them like the heats of 

 the dog-days. Though they are frequently heard by day, 

 yet is their natural time of motion only in the night. As 

 soon as it grows dusk, the chirping increases, and they come 



