The Black Swans 



the woods were ringing far and near 

 with the endless eerie trilling of the 

 August "choir invisible" — the so- 

 called snowy crickets of the trees. I 

 wish that some one could or would 

 coin a word or phrase that would 

 convey to the minds of those who may 

 not be familiar with the sound some 

 adequate conception of the quality 

 and character of this strange insect's 

 all-night song. Hawthorne calls it 

 "audible moonlight." A clever fancy 

 that — only the busy band plays on 

 just the same each August night, moon 

 or no moon. Thoreau has spoken of 

 it as "slumbrous breathing." Scudder 

 has located the note on the musical 

 scale as the fourth F above the middle 

 C. They have a day song too that 

 differs somewhat from that so per- 

 sistently iterated at night; but that is 

 not so commonly heard. 



The "Kates" of course grind out 

 their own peculiar rasping call as the 

 cricket chorus swells from every bosky 



[130] 



