THE PKAYING MANTIS 33 



the mixture that confectioners make of whipped white of 

 egg, sugar, and starch, with which to ornament their cakes. 

 This snowy covering is very easily crumbled and removed. 

 When it is gone the exit-belt is clearly visible, with its two 

 rows of plates. The wind and rain sooner or later remove it in 

 strips or flakes, and therefore the old nests show no traces of it. 



But these two materials, though they appear different, 

 are really only two forms of the same matter. The Mantis 

 with her ladles sweeps the surface of the foam, skimming the 

 top of the froth, and collecting it into a band along the back 

 of the nest. The ribbon that looks like sugar-icing is merely 

 the thinnest and lightest portion of the sticky spray, which 

 appears whiter than the nest because its bubbles are more 

 delicate, and reflect more light. 



It is truly a wonderful piece of machinery that can, so 

 methodically and swiftly, produce the horny central sub- 

 stance on which the first eggs are laid, the eggs themselves, 

 the protecting froth, the soft sugar-like covering of the door- 

 ways, and at the same time can build overlapping plates, and 

 the narrow passages leading to them ! Yet the Mantis, 

 while she is doing all this, hangs motionless on the founda- 

 tion of the nest. She gives not a glance at the building 

 that is rising behind her. Her legs act no part in the affair. 

 The machinery works by itself. 



As soon as she has done her work the mother withdraws. 

 I expected to see her return and show some tender feeling 

 for the cradle of her family, but it evidently has no further 

 interest for her. 



The Mantis, I fear, has no heart. She eats her husband, 

 and deserts her children. 



Ill 

 THE HATCHING OF HER EGGS 



The eggs of the Mantis usually hatch in bright sunshine, 

 at about ten o'clock on a mid-June morning. 



