378 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA 



most actively chirping, however, the beginning of a strain is 

 less vigorous than its full swell, and the notes are then repeated 

 at the rate of about 120 per minute; it steadily gains its normal 

 velocity and sounds not unlike a feeble distinct croak of toads 

 at spawning time." 



I found the mole crickets, about half grown, quite numerous 

 on the sandy borders of ponds, where their intricate tunnelling, 

 just under the surface of the ground, gave evidence of their 

 presence. They were not easily found in these burrows, 

 even after the most exacting search for them. I sometimes 

 found adults crossing elevated, dry, sandy roadways between 

 wet meadows. Here they were retarded and exhausted in 

 their efforts to cross from one side to the other. Again, they 

 were occasionally surprised in their retreats under old pieces 

 of wood, in their accustomed haunts. 



The two individuals figured in the photographic illustration 

 belong to the long-wing variety. They were quite welcome 

 visitors to our lamp-light at night on August sixteenth. At 

 this time we sometimes found specimens washed up on the 

 beach by the waves at the shore of Lake Michigan. They, 

 doubtless, had been carried out into the lake by the winds. 

 The scientific name of the mole cricket is Gryllotalpa horealis. 



