SEVENTEEN-YEAR LOCUST SNODGRASS. 397 
note of " primitive passion," and if so is perhaps the one from which 
tiie more melodious ones have been developed. 
Tlie smaller form, variety, or species, the one called " cassini,-' 
differs from the larger form in the character of its notes always, if 
in no other v^ay. The regular song of the little males much more 
resembles that of the annual summer cicadas, though not so long and 
less continuous in tone. It commences with a few chirps, then there 
follows a series of strong, shiill sounds like zioinf/, siohiff, zwing, 
etc., ending again in a number of chirps. The whole song lasts 
about 15 seconds. Several of these males kept in jars sang this song 
repeatedly and sang no other. It was common out of doors, but 
always heard as a solo, never in chorus. 
When handled or disturbed the little males utter a series of sharp 
chirping notes very suggestive of a miniature wren angrily scolding 
at an intruder. Never does this form utter notes having the burr 
tone of the larger one. The contrast between the vocal tones of the 
two is strikingly evident when several males of both kinds are kept 
together in a jar. If disturbed each produces his ov/n sound, one the 
Ijurr, the other the chirp, and there is never any suggestion of simi- 
larity or gradation between them. 
Of all animal songs, the song of the cicada must prove one of the 
worst stumbling blocks to those who would explain animal music on 
the theory of sexual selection. Where thousands of males are singing' 
all at once it would be a very delicate ear that the female must have 
to choose amongst them ; and, furthermore, as has already been men- 
tioned, the female is not known to have any ear at all. On the other 
hand, probably no one is able to give any very satisfactory reason 
why an insect should have acquired such an elaborate music box as 
that of the cicada's merely for the purpose of emotional expression. 
EGO LAYING. 
The cicadas lay their eggs in the twigs of trees and shrubs and fre- 
quently in the stalks of deciduous plants. They show no particular 
choice of species except that conifers are usually avoided, though 
Mr. W. T. Davis says that he has observed them ovipositing in pines 
on Staten Island, but he did not examine the eggs later to determine 
whether they hatched or not. 
The eggs are not stuck into the wood at random, but are carefully 
placed in skillfully constructed nests which the female excavates in 
the twigs with the blades of her long, curved ovipositor. (PI. 3.) 
These nests are perhaps always on the undersurfaces of the twigs, 
unless the later are vertical, and usually there are rows of from half 
a dozen to twentv or more of them together. 
