"Here, here," cried the younger 

 children. "She is going to tell us about 

 a praying insect." 



"The Praying ^laniis has legs as long 

 as its body. They are so constructed 

 as to form a little instrument, some- 

 thing like a pocket knife, and it uses 

 this to cut off the heads of its enemies. 

 It also uses its legs to catch insects for 

 food." 



"Why is it called Praying Mantis?" 

 Edith inquired. 



"Because it holds up its fore legs in 

 an attitude of devotion, but instead of 

 being at its prayers, it is really trying to 

 catch its prey. Indeed, it is not at all 

 religious, but, on the contrary, a most 

 quarrelsome creature. In China, trav- 

 elers tell us, the children often put 

 these insects in bamboo cages, in order 

 to see them fight and cut off each oth- 

 er's heads, x^t Washington children 

 call them 'rear-horses,' and delight to 

 see them catch each other. 



"The Mantis has been called the god 

 of the Hottentots. Even in Christian 

 countries superstitions gather about it. 

 Peasants of France say that it will turn 

 its sybil head when it is addressed by a 

 lost traveler and gravely point out the 

 right way with one of its devotional 

 legs. It is as curious in its death as in 

 its life. 



"Grant Allen says that if the head of 

 a Praying Mantis is cut off the body 

 will stand catching flies with out- 

 stretched arms, and fumbling about for 

 its mouth when one is caught, much 

 surprised to find its head unaccount- 

 ably missing." 



"Hurrah!" shouted John. "Among 

 all the insects the Praying Mantis 'takes 

 the cake'." 



"Hush, John, that's slang," said Alice. 

 "I'd like to know what it 'takes the 

 cake' for?" 



"To cut it with its knife," cried 

 laughing Madge. 



"When an insect hasn't sense enough 

 to_know when its head is off, I'd like to 

 know how it can surpass others," said 

 Howard. 



"How can it have sense when its head 

 is off?" demanded John. 



"Order, order," cried Aunt Jane. 

 "There is another family of insects re- 



markable for its close resemblance to 

 twigs and dry leaves. The Chameleon 

 Fly is remarkable for the length of 

 time it can abstain from food, and its 

 transformation is a sort of miracle, as 

 it lays down old, wornout parts and 

 acquires new ones. 



"The Empherus, or Day Fly, is curi- 

 ous on account of the brevity of its 

 life. It grows to its full size, becomes 

 old, and dies inside of fivejiours; yet 

 during this brief period its ifife is often 

 in danger from fish, if near the water; 

 or from birds, if in the air. 



"Many insects are especially adapted 

 to certain flowers. A little yellow fly 

 is devoted to the dandelion, while an- 

 other, a little Joseph, with his coat of 

 many colors, always frequents the lin- 

 den weed. The prevailing color in his 

 coat is rose. Have you children ever 

 thought what giants you must appear 

 to these little insects, in whose sight a 

 grain of sand is a mountain?" 



"Dear me," said Bird, "wouldn't I 

 enjoy reading the journal of a Cricket 

 or a Katy-did !" 



"As you will not be likely to enjoy 

 that pleasure, I must tell you a short 

 story about that obscure little nuisance, 

 the Cricket. He could not write his 

 own autobiography, so Mr. Browning 

 put this incident about him in one of 

 his poems: 'There was once a contest 

 for a prize between two musicians. 

 When one was about to win a string- of 

 his lyre snapped. A Cricket concealed 

 near by sounded the note, so the musi- 

 cian, thus helped in his perplexity, 

 gaiined the prize. He had a statue 

 made of himself holding the lyre, and 

 on the lyre the Cricket, his partner in 

 the prize. 



" 'Never more apart you found. 

 Her he throned from him she crowned.' " 



"Bravo!" said Howard; "it was right 

 for him to perpetuate the fame of his 

 little helper. But how did the Cricket 

 get its name?" 



"The Cricket has no vocal organs; 

 he makes his music by opening and 

 shutting his wing cases, so that the 

 frames of the taborets rub rapidly 

 against each other, making creaking 

 sounds. School boys in Germany keep 

 Crickets in boxes in their rooms for the 

 sake of their lullaby. The poets love to 



67 



