MEADOW SIN^GERS. 



103 



scraping or rubbing his legs against his hard-shell 

 wing covers ; he is, in fact, a veritable fiddler in the 

 grand orchestra of the meadow. One musician does 

 not count for much in the noontime sym 

 phony of the singing wings, but when two #|^ 

 hundred thousand bowstrings are in full 

 swing there can be no doubt about '"'''' ' 



who supphes the orchestra with its 

 first violins ! Although the lo- 

 cust's music is but an obligato ac- 

 companiment to the high-pitched, 

 ringing voices of the soloists, it 

 soothes the ear with a drowsy x, Left wing of (K 

 hum, which is the very embodi- 

 ment of midsummer peace and 

 '' audible stillness." 



A rather large locust {Tri- 

 tnerotropis verrucidata) is quite 

 common on the intervales of the 

 White Mountain district. This 

 creature flies like a bird, and snaps 

 his wings at will during his devi- 

 ous flight. He skims along with a 

 sudden Mack, Mack, Much, klacJc, 

 and gives a dip at each " klack," much in the same 

 fashion that the yellowbird utters its joyous chirrup 

 during its undulating flight through the twilight sky. 



veus, showing the 

 portion from A to B 

 used for singing. Z, 

 Left wing of Orche- 

 limum, showin;:^ the 

 vein in black at C 

 used for singing. Both 

 drawing.s are copied 

 from cuts found in 

 several publications 

 — neither are true to 

 nature ; compare with 

 tlie succeeding draw- 

 ing of niveus wing^ 

 and the wing on draw- 

 ing of Orehelimum. 



