The Cricket 
75 
prepared somewhat near the surface of the 
ground, sufficiently near for the warmth 
of the sun to be powerful, and here the 
female deposits her eggs. 
In addition to roots, the mole cricket 
feeds upon insects of different kinds, 
occasionally becoming cannibalistic in its 
tendencies. It is very fierce in its tempera- 
ment, and if a straw or blade of grass be 
pushed down its hole it will seize it, and 
can often be dragged in this way from its 
hiding place, as it holds tenaciously to 
whatever it has seized. It is evident that 
Leigh Hunt appreciated the little cricket 
and his far-famed song, for he says in his 
poem, “ The Grasshopper and the 
Cricket ” — 
“ O sweet and tiny cousins that belong, 
One to the fields, the other to the hearth, 
Both have your sunshine : both though small are 
strong. 
To sing in thoughtful ears this natural song — 
Indoors and out, summer and winter, mirth.” 
