NATURE’S CHORISTERS 
215 
of perfect architecture and careful housekeeping, 
it is one heard far too seldom.” 
“ The crickets get their name from the French 
word cricri ” Uncle John informed, “ and they 
are a voluble race. Many of our field crickets 
are decidedly musical, but their music is of the 
shrill variety, pitched according to Scudder at 
' e natural, two octaves above middle c! The 
cricket song most common in our vicinity comes 
from a tree species called the snowy tree cricket. 
Strangely enough, the number of the cricket’s 
notes per minute varies according to temperature, 
running about one hundred chirps to sixty-five 
degrees Fahrenheit, and there is said to be a dis¬ 
tinct difference between the day song and the 
night song. Riley interprets the day version as 
sounding a cry of re-teat, re-teat; while another 
writer says it is an invitation to treat — treat — 
treat . Burroughs loved this cricket’s notes and 
spoke of them as a ‘ rhythmic beat.’ Hawthorne 
called it an ‘ audible stillness,’ and fancied that 
if moonlight could be heard it would sound like 
the snowy cricket’s song. Little is really known 
about the life history of even our commonest 
crickets, and it must be full of interesting detail. 
You could gain an audience among the bugolo- 
gists, Tommy, by working up some one of them. 
Suppose you try? I will help what I can.” 
“ Katy-did! ” The shrill call from somewhere 
