22 WAYS OF THE SIX-FOOTED 



respecting methods of this Httle troubadour. He does 

 not wander abroad to seek his lady-love, but stands 

 sturdily at his own gate and plays his fiddle lustily, 

 always doing his best ; he knows the shy lady is not far 

 away, and that if she likes his song she will come to 

 him when her heart is won. It is very easy to see the 

 cricket making his " crink," as our British cousins call 

 his cry. If you are careful, you may observe him in 

 his own doorway ; or perhaps an easier method is to 

 catch several and place them in a glass jar in which 

 there is a little sod ; they will soon begin chirping in 

 such a cage and may be watched at leisure. 



Each wing-cover of the male cricket is divided into 



membranous, disklike spaces on top (Fig. 10), and across 



each extends a vein covered with transverse 



ridges, the " file " (/) ; on the inner edge, 



near the base, is a hardened portion called 



the "scraper" (s). When chirping the 



cricket lifts his wing-covers and draws the 



scraper of one across the file of the other, 



and thus sets both in vibration. In order 



Fig. 10. Wing- to play On this natural violin the little 



cover o£ Male yirtuoso is obliged to lift his upper wings in 



Cricket. File _ ° _ ^'^ * 



enlarged. a Way that gives him a fierce and bristling 

 appearance, quite at variance with his amorous tune 

 and frame of mind. While the earlier songs of the 



