THE PERIODICAL CICADA 



is repeated at intervals of from two to five seconds, and 

 is given always as a solo by individuals sitting in the 

 bushes or on lower branches of the trees. Males singing 

 the Pharaoh song, therefore, are easily observed in the 

 act of performing. With the beginning of each note, the 

 singer lifts his abdomen to a rigid, horizontal position, 

 thus opening the cavity beneath the lower drumheads 

 and letting out the full volume of the sound. Toward the 

 end of the note, the abdomen drops again to the usual 

 somewhat sagging position, appearing thus to give the 

 abrupt falling inflection at the close. 



The grand choruses, by which the periodical cicada is 

 chiefly known and remembered, are given by the fully 

 matured males of the swarm, always high in the trees 

 where the singers may seldom be closely observed while 

 performing. The individual notes are prolonged bur-r-r-r- 

 like sounds, repeated all day and day after day, but all 

 single voices are blended and lost in the continuous hum 

 of the multitude. 



The fourth note of the larger form of the cicada is 

 uttered by males when they appear to be surprised or 

 frightened. On such occasions, as the insect darts 

 away, he makes a loud, rough sound, and the same note 

 is often uttered when a male is picked up or otherwise 

 handled. 



The notes of the small form of the seventeen-year race 

 of the cicada have an entirely different character from 

 those of his larger relative. The regular song of the little 

 males much more resembles that of the annual summer 

 cicadas, though it is not so long and is less continuous 

 in tone. It opens with a few short chirps; then follows 

 a series of strong, shrill sounds like zwing, zwing, zwing, 

 and so on, closing again with a number of chirps. The 

 whole song lasts about fifteen seconds. Several of these 

 males kept in cages for observation sang this song re- 

 peatedly and no other. It is common out of doors, but 

 always heard in solo, never in chorus. When handled 



[211] 



