six-footed or true insects, in the winged or adult stage, may be taken
in winter by any one who is so disposed, and knows where to search for
them. Among the _Orthoptera_, the "grouse grasshoppers" live during
the cold season beneath the loose bark of logs, or beneath the bottom
rails of the old Virginia worm fences. From these retreats every warm,
sunny day tempts them forth in numbers. On such occasions the earth
seems to swarm with them, as they leap before the intruder, their hard
bodies striking the dead leaves with a sound similar to that produced
by falling hail. The common field cricket belongs also to the
_Orthoptera_, and the young of various sizes winter under rails and
logs, bidding defiance to Jack Frost from within a little burrow or
pit beneath the protecting shelter.

[Illustration: CHINCH BUG.]

The true bugs, or _Hemiptera_, hibernate in similar places; squash
bugs, chinch bugs, "stink" bugs, and others being easily found in
numbers beneath loose bark or hidden between the root leaves of
mullein and other plants.

Nearly three hundred species of _Coleoptera_, or beetles, occupy
similar positions. Almost any rotten log or stump when broken open
discloses a half dozen or more "horn" or "bess beetles," _Passalus
cornutus_ L., great, shining, clumsy, black fellows with a curved horn
on the head. They are often utilized as horses by country children,
the horn furnishing an inviting projection to which may be fastened,
by a thread or cord, chips and pieces of bark to be dragged about by
the strong and never lagging beast of burden. When tired of "playing
horse" they can make of the insect an instrument of music; for, when
held by the body, it emits a creaking, hissing noise, produced by