As I said before, England is poor in singing insects, while America is rich in them—­almost, perhaps, as rich as Japan, although you will not find as many different kinds of singing insects in any one state or district.  The singing insects of America are peculiar to particular localities.  But the Eastern states have perhaps the most curious insect of this kind.  It is called the Katydid.  This name is spelt either Katydid, or Catydid—­though the former spelling is preferable.  Katy, or Katie, is the abbreviation of the name Catherine; very few girls are called by the full name Catherine, also spelt Katherine; because the name is long and unmusical, their friends address them usually as Katy, and their acquaintances, as Kate.  Well, the insect of which I am speaking, a kind of semi, makes a sound resembling the sound of the words “Katie did!” Hence the name—­one of the few corresponding to the names given to the Japanese semi, such as tsuku-tsuku-boshi, or minmin-semi.  The most interesting composition upon this cicada is by Oliver Wendell Holmes, but it is of the lighter sort of verse, with a touch of humour in it.  I shall quote a few verses only, as the piece contains some allusions that would require explanation at considerable length.

  I love to hear thine earnest voice,
    Wherever thou art hid,
  Thou testy little dogmatist,
    Thou pretty Katydid! 
  Thou mindest me of gentlefolks,—­
    Old gentlefolks are they,—­
  Thou say’st an undisputed thing
    In such a solemn way.

* * * * *

  Oh tell me where did Katy live,
    And what did Katy do? 
  And was she very fair and young,
    And yet so wicked, too? 
  Did Katy love a naughty man,
    Or kiss more cheeks than one? 
  I warrant Katy did no more
    Than many a Kate has done.

* * * * *

  Ah, no!  The living oak shall crash,
    That stood for ages still,
  The rock shall rend its mossy base
    And thunder down the hill,
  Before the little Katydid
    Shall add one word, to tell
  The mystic story of the maid
    Whose name she knows so well.

The word “testy” may be a little unfamiliar to some of you; it is a good old-fashioned English term for “cross,” “irritable.”  The reference to the “old gentlefolks” implies the well-known fact that in argument old persons are inclined to be much more obstinate than young people.  And there is also a hint in the poem of the tendency among old ladies to blame the conduct of young girls even more severely than may be necessary.  There is nothing else to recommend the poem except its wit and the curiousness of the subject.  There are several other verses about the same creature, by different American poets; but none of them is quite so good as the composition of Holmes.  However, I may cite a few verses from one of the earlier American poets, Philip Freneau, who flourished in the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth.  He long anticipated the fancy of Holmes; but he spells the word Catydid.