Thomas County cat., 1886-08-12
MEADOW MUSICIANS.
Description of Several Members
of Natures Orchestra.

/ am never weary of renewing my
acquaintance with these quaint little
meadow musicians, as l stroll aiield,
these high-elbowed grigs that leap in
summer grass" The weedy pasture
or neglected fallow IS their paradise.
Amid all their intense vibratory can
generally catch certain familiar
strain and follow it to the end-tsip,
tsip, tsip, tsip, tsee-e-e-e-e. 1t emanates
apparently rod or SO in advance
of me. l approach stealthily, start
ing up the inevitable swarms of fly
ing locusts that pitch with headlong
momentum INTO the quivering herbage
on right and left. They certainly
would break their precious necks were
they not so reinforced by that stiff pro-
tecting collar-an armor in which those
close fitting, ram-shaped heads revolve
as in socket-joint. The song now
rises again amid the din of thousands
which might be its echo, still apparent
" some distance in advance of me, thus
with a certain alluring quality de-
coying me on and on. until at last the
one particular strain on which my at
tention has been focused is positively
approached, and seems now to rise di-
rectly from my feet. Seating myself
cautiously. l await developments. .
A branch of bramble bends in the
breeze and sways against my face, and
as l look up beneath the foliage my
eve is arrested by small but sharply
defined shadow plainly transmitted
through the sun lit leaf close by-a
shadow rendered all the more suggest
i've by the projecting tips of the two slen-
der antenna exploring so gingerly out
beyond. ZIP. ZIP. zap, ZIP, ze-e-e-e-e-e."
The gauZy minstrel has endured the limit
of his silence. and now again takes up
strain. and is almost immediately
answered from numerous mysterious
sources on every side. But he has evil
IDENTITY caught "a glimpse of my un-
guarded movement, for the ..high-el-
bowed grig' kicks of suddenly from
his perch and pitches hap-hazard into
space. alighting upon swaying stem
OF timothy-grass, and at length strad-
ding with an air of comical
solemnity upon spray of cap
sella, where he seems to gain conf
dence and permits full view of him.
self. This is the common durnal
meadow grasshopper (Orcheltmuns oul-
SGre). He is pellucid green Great
are, with the outline OF his body readily
seen through the filmy wings. He is
about an inch in length, and the
long legs suggest the fragile con-
sistency of g ass, and one involun-
tarily wonders how these slender
such reckless gymnastics as they are
continually called upon to sustain as
we'll as instigate. Turning upon his
perch, he brings 10 view his '.glassi-
chord or shriiling organ, upon his
back-a glass-like spot upon his wings
just behind the thor:aX. or what might
appear to the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS as an
exceedingly yuncomfortabie-look col
lar. Even as We take our first glimpse
of this diminutive. t;lmy taboret, a
strange tremor seems to have taken
possession of the insect, the edges of
the wings seem blurred and indistinct
in the rapid vibratoEy movement. and
then follow few quick. convulsive
efforts. resulting in the s:ridulous strain
already described, and whose multi
tudinous repetition on every hand so
.saturates the quivering ether. For this
is perhaps the most omnipresent
meadow sound of the New England
summer noon; certainly the most prom
inent. And yet, singularly enough,
few of our entomologists seem to have
discovered the fact, even aSsociating
tine song with evening gloom" and
"shady places = conditions under
which my minstrel is comparatively
silent. On cloudy day, indeed, our
fields emulate the downs of Britain,
and are almost still, our present mu-
sician among the rest. He is clover
of the sum-" and revels in midsummer
tropic heats.
There is another mysterious dweller
in the sunny meadow. who claims our
recognition in positive and rasping ac-
cents. ''ts;p, tsip. tsip. tSip, contin-
uous. rapid, exasperating stridnlation,
a reiterated noisy parody, stimulating
the prelude of the meadow grasshop-
per already described, always fore
shadowing some musical feat that
shall distance his little rival. but never
getting any further than a brag. This
is the loudest and most peremptory
challenge we shall meet in the entire
meadow, in its very grain and fiber
suggestive of inordinate egotism.
After having once discussed him,
and separated his green individuality
from the surrounding herbage. and
fully satisfied yourself that his long