210 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 
Not many summers ago I endeavored to transplant a colony 
to the terrace in my garden, by boring deep holes in the slop- 
ing turf. The new inhabitants stayed some time, and fed and 
sung; but wandered away by degrees, and were heard at a 
farther distance every morning, so that it appears that on this 
emergency they made use of their wings in attempting to return 
to the spot from which they were taken. 
One of these crickets when confined in a paper cage and set 
in the sun, and supplied with plants moistened with water, will 
feed and thrive, and become so merry and loud as to be irk- 
some in the same room where a person is sitting; if the plants 
are not wetted it will die. 
LETTER XU: 
SELBORNE. 
* Far from all resort of mirth 
Save the cricket on the hearth.” 
MILTon’s // Penseroso. 
While many other insects must be sought after in fields, and 
woods, and waters, the house-cricket resides altogether within . 
our dwellings, intruding itself upon our notice whether we will 
or no. ‘This species delights in new-built houses, being, like 
the spider, pleased with the moisture of the walls ; and besides, 
the softness of the mortar enables them to burrow and mine 
between the joints of the bricks or stones, and to open commu- 
nications from one room to another. ‘They are particularly 
fond of kitchens and baker’s ovens, on account of’ their per- 
petual warmth. 
Tender insects that live abroad either enjoy only the short 
period of one summer, or else doze away the cold uncomfort- 
able months in profound slumbers ; but these, residing as it 
were in a torrid zone, are always alert and merry: a good 
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