white] THE KATYDID 261 



position. After another rest the second egg is laid on the opposite 

 side and a little above the first. The third is pushed in between 

 the top of the first and the twig and alternately so that the eggs 

 are not laid one on top of the other as supposed but rather one 

 under the other. The eggs are deposited in September and hatch 

 the following May and the young mature about the first of August. 

 The young has no wings but it eats, grows and moults and when it 

 sheds its skin for the last time it has wings. 



In Florida the strong evergreen leaf of the orange makes an 

 admirable resting place for the eggs of some species. This orderly 

 katydid lays them in a row along the edge of the leaf. 



The katydids belong to the family Locustidae of the order 

 Orthoptera. The family includes the meadow grasshopper, cave 

 crickets, wingless crickets, Jerusalem crickets, etc., but no locusts 

 as one might suppose from the name. The katydids are various 

 in form and name. There are the narrow- winged, round- winged, 

 angular- winged, oblong-winged, broad-winged, and others according 

 to the shapes of their wings. In the West there is a grey katydid 

 which like its eastern cousins is very protectively colored. 



And now, just to close with, I want to quote a few words about 

 the song of the katvdid because I like the wav it is describe. 



"The chances are that he who lies awake of a mid-summer's 

 night must listen to an oft-repeated rasping song that says, 'Katy- 

 did, Katy-did, she did, she didn't' over and over again. There 

 is no use wondering what Katy did or didn't do for no mortal 

 will ever know. If when morning comes the listener has eyes 

 sharp enough to discern one of these singers among the leaves of 

 some neighboring tree never a note of explanation will he get. 

 The beautiful finely veined wings folded over the body keeps the 

 secret hidden and the long antennae, looking like threads of living 

 silk, still wave airily above the droll green eyes, as much as to say, 

 'Wouldn't you like to know'?" 



