NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 187 
specimens in the collection, and at times the noise made 
by them was so great that visitors had to shout to one an- 
other to make their own voices audible. The sounds coming 
from this collection varied according to the time of day. 
It was late in the afternoon, when the larger locusts com- 
menced their singing (which continued throughout the 
night), and inasmuch as the strictly diurnal species were yet 
active, the insect chorus was quite vociferous. 
It is only with considerable difficulty that singing insects 
are collected. The best time to capture them is at 
night, when the collector stalks the loudest singers, and by 
approaching within definite investigating distance, can ac- 
curately locate the insects by bringing into use an electric 
flash-lamp. The glare of the light usually causes the insect 
to stop its calls, but it remains motionless upon a branch or 
leaf and may be grasped with a delicate pair of forceps, 
provided the movements of the collector’s arm are performed 
outside the rays of light. If the locust has become silent 
and cannot be detected when the hght is thrown upon it, 
the collector simply switches off the light and remains 
quiet. In a few minutes the creature continues its song, 
when its exact location is again determined. In this way 
the night songsters of a big meadow are collected, one by 
one, and the collector leaves behind him a silent field that a 
few hours before resounded with the stridulations of the 
insect chorus. 
Among the more interesting insects exhibited, in our 
series are to be found the walking-stick, the praying mantis, 
the huge red-winged locust of the South, the Egyptian 
scarab, the luminous beetle of Central and South America, 
and broods of silk worm. The life history of the mosquito 
will be permanently illustrated in a series of tanks, and ad- 
joining these an exhibit of the natural enemies of these 
pests. 
The insect collection is supplied with interesting deserip- 
tive labels. During the latter part of spring it is removed 
from the Reptile House, where, during the winter the num- 
ber of its cages are much reduced, and replaced in the 
quarters occupied during the summer. 
