Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-06-20
GrasshOppcr Musicians


am never weary of renewing my
acquaintance with these quaint little
meadow musicians as ! stroll field
these 4" high.elbowed grigs that leap in
summer grass" The weedy pasture or
neglected fallow is their paradise. Amid
all their intense vibratory | can gene.
rally catch certain familiar strain, and
follow it to the end-tSip, tSip, tsp,
tsp, tSee-e-e-e-e. 1t emanates appa-
rently a rod or so in advance of me.
approach stealthily, starting up the In
evitable swarms Of flying locusts that
pitch with headlong momentum into the
quivering heritage on right and left. They
certainly would break their precious
necks were they not so reinforced by
that stiff protecting cOllar-an armor
in which those close-iitting, ram-shaped
heads revolve as in a socket joint. The
song now rises again amid the din OF
thousands which might be its echo, still
apparently some distance in advance of
me, thus with certain alluring quality
decoying me on and on, until at last
the one particular strain on which ny
attention has been focused is posi-
lively approached, and seems now to
rise directly from my feet. Seating
myself cautiously await develop
ments.
A branch Of bramble bends in the
breeze and sways against my face, and
as I look up beneath the foliage my eye
is arrested by small but sharply de-
fined shadow plainly transmitted
through the sunllt leaf close by-s
shadow rendered all the more sugges-
tive by the projecting tips of the two
slender antenne exploring so gingerly
out beyond. slip, zip, zip, zip,
ze-e-e-e-e-e." The gauzy minstrel has
endured the limit of his silence, and
now again takes up his strain, and is
almost Immediately answered from nu-
merous mysterious sources on every side.
But he has evidently caught a glimpse
of my unguarded movement, for the
" high-elbowed grig" kicks off sud-
denly from his perch and pitches hap
hazard into space, alighting upon a
swaying stem Of timothy-grass, and at
length straddling with an air Of comical
solemnity upon spray of capsella,
where he seems to gain confidence, and
permits full view of himself. This is the
common diurnal meadow grasshopper
(orchelimum rulgare. Heis pellucid
green creature, with the outline of his
body readily seen through the filmy
wings. lie is about an inch in length,
and the long legs suggest the fragile
consistency of glass, and one invol-
UNFAIRLY wonders how these slender
members could have survived intact
such reckless gymnastics as they are
continually called upon to sustain as
well as instigate. Turning upon his
perch, he brings to view his CLASH
chord" or shrilling organ, upon his
bsck-a glass-like spot upon his wings
Just behind the tborax, or what might
appear to the facetiously inclined as An
exceedingly MISUNDERSTANDING col
lar. Even as we take our first glimpse
Of this diminutive, filmy taboret q
strange tremor seems tc have taken
possession Of the insect, the edges of
the wings seem blurred and indistlnct
in rapid vibratory movement, and then
follow a few quick, conyulsive efforts,
resulting in the stridulous strain already
described, and whose multitudinous
repetition on every hand so saturates
the quivering ether. For this is per-
haps the most omnipresent meadow
sound Of the New England summer
noon certainly the most prominent.
And yet, singularly enough, few Of our
entomologists seem to have discovered
the fact, even associating the song with
" evening gloom and " shady
places "-conditions under which my
minstrel is comparatively silent. On
cloudy day, indeed, our fields emu
late the downs Of Britain, and are almost
still, our present musician among the
rest. He is q slower Of the SUM-" and
revels in midsummer tropic heats.
There is another mysterious dwsllsr
in the sunny meadow, who claims our
recognition in positive and rasping ac-
cents, "ts,p, tsip, tsip, tsip," a can
tinuous, rapid, exasperating stridula-
ton, q reiterated noisy parody, simu.
lating the prelude Of the meadow grass
hopper already described, always fore.
some musical feat that shall
distance his little rival, but never get
ting any further than brsg. This is
the loudest and most peremptory chal-
lenge We shall meet in the entire me,.
dow, in its very grain and fibre sug-
gestivs of inordinsts sgotism.
After once having discussed him,
=