THE ITALIAN CRICKET My house shelters no specimens of the domestic Cricket, the guest of bakeries and rustic hearths.

But although in my village the chinks under the hearthstones are mute, the nights of summer are musical with a singer little known in the North.

The sunny hours of spring have their singer, the Field-Cricket of which I have written; while in the summer, during the stillness of the night, we hear the note of the Italian Cricket, the _OEcanthus pellucens_, Scop.

One diurnal and one nocturnal, between them they share the kindly half of the year.

When the Field-Cricket ceases to sing it is not long before the other begins its serenade.
The Italian Cricket has not the black costume and heavy shape characteristic of the family.