250 THE FLORIST AND 
sounds that are associated ■with winter days at home, as the voices of the 
raven, the jay and the woodpecker are suggestive of winter in the woods. 
The fly, the gnat, the beetle and the moth, though each utters a sound 
that awakens many pleasing thoughts and images, are not to be ranked 
among singing insects. The latter comprehend the locusts, the crickets 
and the grasshoppers, that seem appointed by nature to take up their little 
lyre and drum, after the birds have laid aside their more musical pipe and 
flute. Though certain insects are supposed to make their sounds by means 
of wind, their apparatus is placed outside of their bodies, and as they have 
no lungs, the air is obtained by a peculiar inflation of their chests. Hence 
the musical appendages of such insects are constructed on the principle of 
the jewsharp, and the reeds in a reed organ. The grasshopper, in all ages, 
has been noted for his musical propensities ; and is frequently represented 
as playing on the harp, in certain ancient emblematical vignettes. 
Each genus of these insects has a peculiar modulation of his notes. The 
common green grasshopper, that during the months of August and September 
fills the whole atmosphere with his din, is found chiefly in the lowland 
meadows which are covered with the native grasses. This grasshopper 
modulates his notes somewhat like the cackling of a hen, uttering several 
chirps in rapid succession, and following them with a loud spinning sound, 
that seems to be the conclusion of the strain. The strains are continued 
incessantly, from the time when the sun is up high enough to dry the dews, 
until dew-fall in the evening. These players are delighted with the clear 
bright sunshine, and sing but very little on cloudy days, even when the air 
is dry and warm. 
There is another species of grasshopper with short wings, that makes a 
kind of grating sound, by scraping his legs, that serve for bows, against 
his sides, that represent, as it were, the strings of a viol. If we go into 
the whortleberry pastures, we may hear still another species, that makes a 
continued trilling, like the note of the hair-bird, and often continues the 
sound half a minute or more, vrithout apparent rest. This insect reminds 
me of the louder shrilling of those species which are heard in the Southern 
States. The note of this grasshopper is not so agreeable as the notes of 
those whose strains are more rapidly intermittent. 
The American locusts make their peculiar sounds by inflating air into 
their bodies, and expressing it between two small apertures, situated a little 
below the base of their wings. These holes lead from a musical table, on 
each side of which are five or six thin bars, connected by exquisitely fine 
membranes. There is an insect of this tribe that is seldom heard until 
