152 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
SONG BIRDS. 
(Engraved for the American Agriculturist.) 
windows, darted away again when they tried to catch 
him. and finally scrambled up the inside of the leg of 
Banks’s pantaloons, scratching, as he w ent, clear up to his 
back between his shoulders. Here he was stopped by the 
suspenders, when he at once fixed his teeth firmly in the 
flesh, and held on until killed by being choked. We pie- 
oume this cured the boys of trying to tame squirrels, and 
no doubt gave Mr. Banks a dislike of backbiters through 
life. 
WELCOME GUESTS. 
The birds are with us again after their long stay in the 
warm South, w here they journeyed w hen Winter came 
storming from the North. They do not appear in flocks, 
as when they were preparing to leave us. Then, in al¬ 
most every w ood, y. u might see colonies of robins, mead¬ 
ow larks, thrushes, bobolinks and yellow hammers, birds 
which had not associated before, gathering together as if 
for a town meeting. They did not sing ; they w ere too 
full of business for that, but each seemed to give his opin¬ 
ion, in a short, sharp chirp— perhaps they were voting on 
the choice of a leader—at any rate they w ere very har¬ 
monious, and quickly finished preparations for their long 
journey, and soon scarce a wing was left; except here 
and there a hardy fellow like the chickadee, all had flow n 
together. Now they come flitting back in pairs, each has 
chosen his partner during the leisure of Winter, and they 
prefer the privacy of domestic life. The bluebird is fur¬ 
nishing the snug little retreat in the hollow limb of the 
apple tree prepared by the woodpecker last year, the robin 
peers cautiously about the evergreen near the house, 
to see if his loved family w ill be safe there, and the bobo¬ 
link will soon sing and laugh, and scold all in a breath as 
ho sees his spouse choosing-hpr nesting place in the damp 
grass of the meadow. 
Do you know the birds in the picture? We have re- 
engr ■ red them from an English magazine. With one 
exception they are old friends of ours, and of yours The 
h ely, sharp eyed little fellow on the lower branch is the 
blackbird. He is a brisk wide-awake chap, as the grubs 
and worms in the plowed ground have good reason to 
midw. Sometimes he follows in ihe furrow ns it is fresh¬ 
ly mimed, and you will often see him give an eager snap 
at some unlucky, fat and lazy grub that lay dreaming of 
the good time coming w hen he would feast on the farm¬ 
er’s grain. In feeding himself and his family in the hedge 
yonder, he will save you bushels of corn which the worms 
would have destroyed. Some of our friends in the far 
West, w here these birds come at times in immense flocks, 
may find it necessary to punish them for stealing their 
grain, but in most localities they protect far more than 
they eat. Show him by kind treatment that his services 
are appreciated. 
Right above him in the picture is the song thrush, 
which is seen here only in cages. Even when a prisoner 
his delightful notes seem full of happy memories, and 
make you think of the green fields, pleasant streams and 
shady woods which were his home. He has an American 
cousin, the brown thrush, that you may often hear just 
at evening, sending out a sweet strain from the woods that 
sounds much like a soft, mellow whistle echoing through 
a long tune. 
That demure little fellow at tne top can sing, for all he 
looks so quiet. He knows more songs than any member 
of the grove choir. He can whistle like the quail, carol 
with the robin, twitter as blithely as the wren, and scream 
equal to the blue jay ; in short, w hatever tune he hears, 
he adds to his list, and will sometimes entertain you for 
hours w ith his varied accomplishments. Of course you 
recognize the mocking bird, a real native Southerner, 
seldom seen wild north of Virginia, but so much prized 
that he is a favorite for the cage. Perhaps a bird in a cage 
with plenty to eat and well cared for may be happy, but 
he does not look so, and if you leave the door open ho will 
soon show his preference for liberty. Canaries, bred in 
confinement, which w ould die.if exposed, may bo kept as 
pets without cruelly, but there is more pleasure in listen¬ 
ing to the song of a free bird, than the complaint of a pris¬ 
oner however sweetly uttered. 
CURIOUS VISITORS EXPECTED. 
Many years ago, while we were visiting on a farm in 
the eastern part of this State, a large colony of strange 
visitors arrived in town, and it was said that similar col¬ 
onies were swarming over a large portion of the adjoin¬ 
ing country. They came in a singular manner. Each one 
had his own conveyance, a curious, buggy like contrivance 
in which all his property was packed. After their arrival 
they laid these aside, and seemed to care nothing more 
for litem, but spent their time in roaming about the fields 
and woods, climbing the trees, sawing off the small 
branches, doing much mischief in this way. All the 
males carried musical instruments with them wherever 
they went, and kept up a continual din for weeks. Strange 
stories were told of them, as that they lived in caves up 
der ground—some said they slept there for seventeen years 
at a time, and enly came up to change their clothes, and 
exercise a little. They certainly did not remain long- 
in about five weeks after their first appearance not one 
could be found. 
We did not learn much about them then, but haveheara 
that this year they are expected to come again, and you 
will be much interested if they visit your town. Their 
name is Cicada Septendecim. Some persons call them 
the Seventeen Year Locust, but the locusts belong to a 
different family, being a species of grasshopper. These 
last are great eaters, and wo ! to the crops when they ap 
pear in great numbers, as some kinds of them have done 
occasionally in this country. The Cicada we are de¬ 
scribing comes up from the ground looking like a large 
brown bug , soon his jacket splits along the back, and a 
winged insect crawls out, and flies away to the woods. 
They have not been observed to eat anything, and onlv 
damage trees as described below. They take their meals 
probably under ground before changing to winged insects. 
The males make a peculiar noise with their wings, by 
rubbing them together as the Katy-did and the Harvest 
Fly do. The females have no music box, but are busv 
piercing the small twigs of trees, ajid depositing their 
eggs. They cut the twigs off, eggs and all drop to the 
ground, the insect hatches in the form of a small giub, 
and burrows in the earth where he remains seventeen 
years, and changes to a bug before coming up to take his 
turn at flying and singing. They die after a few weeks 
of rejoicing in the air and sunshine. 
Colonies or swarms of them appear at different times in 
different places. The swarm this year is, by many per¬ 
sons, expected to appear along the valley of ihe Hudson 
River, and as far east as New Haven, through New-Jer- 
sey and a section of Pennsylvania, and in parts of Mary¬ 
land, Virginia, and North Carolina. Be on the lookout 
for them through that section in the latter part of this 
month and the first of June, and if they come, watch them 
from day to day and try to get a thorough acquaintance 
with such singular creatures. 
A GREAT LOSS. 
A subscriber tells of an amusing circumstance which 
recently happened in his neighborhood. An old gentle¬ 
man was observed early one morning to come from his 
room into the kitchen adjoining, where he commenced 
looking about as if hunting for something lost. He peep¬ 
ed under the table, felt behind the clock, and rummaged 
in every place where anything might he hid. He was 
asked what, he was looking for? *• I’ve lost myself,” re¬ 
plied he, “ I’ve looked every where and can not find 
myself.” His friends were alarmed, thinking him de¬ 
ranged, when he suddenly looked up in great bewilder¬ 
ment, then laughed heartily, and explained that he had 
been asleep and dreamed he had lost, himself. In his agi¬ 
tation he had got up, and was busy looking for his missing 
body when he awoke.—What could have occasioned 
such a curious dream! Probably this. For more lhan 
forty years the old gentleman had lived with his wife, a 
most estimable woman, whom he loved devotedly. They 
had always been as one, beginning life poor and working 
their w av together honorably up to wealth. A few w eeks 
previous tolhe dream, she had been e.a'h d away by death, 
and day and night, the thought of his loss weighed him 
dow n with grief, and in dreams, his feelings gave shape 
to his"thoughts-he seemed to have lost himself. It was 
a touching evidence of his love. 
PRETTY NEARLY RIGHT. 
“ What is that, George ?” asked a teacher of a young 
pupil, pointing to the mark (?) used to show that a ques¬ 
tion is asked. “ A corkscrew,” replied George. He had 
seen his father use a corkscrew nearly of that shape, and 
not knowing his punctuation marks, he gave a guess, 
which was not so far out of tile way after all ; for ques¬ 
tions are corkscrews, with w hich to open bottles of know¬ 
ledge. A boy who asks questions about, everything he 
sees, will become well informed. It is not always ne¬ 
cessary to consult other persons to gain know ledge. Ask 
questions of books, and of every thing you meet with. 
Inquire of the plants about their stems, and leaves, and 
flowers, ask the insects how they live ; they will answer, 
not in words, but. by shownng you. if you observe them 
carefully and patiently from day today, lu this way by 
examining and questioning whatever they saw, philo¬ 
sophers have become distinguished for their knowledge. 
They drew out their wisdom with a ? 
Judging from Appearances.— A lady in Nashville 
was making a visit to the Penitentiary. In one room she 
saw three women engaged in sewing, and turning to the 
keeper, who was showing h r about, said to him in an 
