r,5o 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST 



[Vol. LIV 



ever heard. Hopkins describes a similar instance of this spec- 

 tacular, nocturnal singing which he once heard. 1 



Many species of birds appeared to find these cicadas especially 

 acceptable morsels. The blue birds in my boxes fed their young 

 upon them extensively, as did a pair of song sparrows which had 

 their nest in a pile of roots in my back yard. House wrens, Eng- 

 lish sparrows, red-headed woodpeckers and cuckoos fed upon 

 them greedily. Some birds appeared frequently to snap them up 

 in mere play as I once saw a cuckoo doing in the branches of a 

 maple tree over my head. This bird snapped up first one then 

 another in quick succession, quickly dropping them one by one, 

 in a badly injured, helpless condition. 



It is of interest to note that individuals differ in eye color. I 

 have noted the following : 



1. Males and females with red eye color. 



2. Males and females with orange eye color. 



3. Males and females with light buff eye color. 



4. One male with noticeably white eye color. This individual 

 was distinctive in other respects, since the large veins of the 

 wings, markedly reddish in the common, red-eyed form, were 

 pale yellowish in color. Red-eyed individuals predominate. 



Some of the more important dates in the occurrences of the 

 periodical cicada at Vinson Station I have recorded in my jour- 

 nal as follows : 



May 18 — First adult seen on the wing. The great exodus from 

 the soil began during the next few days. 



May 24 — First "singing" of larger form heard. First singing 

 of smaller Casinii form heard some days later, about May 27 to 

 May 30. 



May 30 — Large form in copulation generally. First female 

 noticed laying eggs in twigs. 



June 5 — Egg-laying activities at their height. 



June 14 — Creatures becoming very rare, and individual singers 

 only occasionally heard. 



June 20— All silent. 



June 27— A single, belated individual of the larger form heard 



Although the incessant concerts of the periodical cicadas per- 

 sisting from morning until night became almost disquieting at 



