4 FOOD OF GRASS AND TREE-HOPPERS. 



would, by itself, serve them only poorly ; witness for our 

 grasshopper, 



" the juicy leaf to which he clings, 



And gnaws it like a file ; 

 The naked stalks which wither by 



Where he has been erewhile." 



And as for the tree-hopper, one of the uses of the gimlet- 

 like tool with which it is provided is said to be that of tap- 

 ping trees, after the manner of housewives' tapping birches 

 for their sappy wine. Apropos of feeding : a certain species 

 of tree-hopper has been observed to display a curious kind of 

 instinctive sagacity. These insects, which resort to the ash- 

 trees of Sicily, are said to bore holes in the bark, and, when 

 the manna has oozed out, to return and carry it away. Hence 

 their name of " Hannifera," in the Linnsean system. 



"Thou dost dance, and thou dost sing, 

 Happier than the happiest king !" 



The first line may serve, in a measure, both for Grecian 

 Tittix and for English grasshopper. If, however, the com- 

 parative merits of their dancing be adjudged according to 

 the wonder rather than the grace of their performances, the 

 "pas" we fancy, must be given for once to the British 

 artiste, who, showing a leg of proportions far more muscular 

 than that of the foreigner, can execute a surprising vault 

 of his own length two hundred times repeated. On the 

 other hand, as regards song, the singer, or, as some modern 



