ORTHOPTERA. _The Soothsayer_.--But the admiration of colours is still less exciting than the astonishment created by the forms in which some of the insect families present themselves, especially the "soothsayers" (_Mantidæ_) and "walking leaves." The latter[1], exhibiting the most cunning of all nature's devices for the preservation of her creatures, are found in the jungle in all varieties of hue, from the pale yellow of an opening bud to the rich green of the full-blown leaf, and the withered tint of decaying foliage. And so perfect is the imitation in structure and articulation, that these amazing insects when at rest are almost indistinguishable from the verdure around them: not the wings alone being modelled to resemble ribbed and fibrous follicles, but every joint of the legs being expanded into a broad plait like a half-opened leaflet. [Footnote 1: _Phyllium siccifolium._] It rests on its abdomen, the legs serving to drag it slowly along, and thus the flatness of its attitude serves still further to add to the appearance of a leaf. One of the most marvellous incidents connected with its organisation was exhibited by one which I kept under a glass shade on my table; it laid a quantity of eggs, that, in colour and shape, were not to be discerned from _seeds_. They were brown and pentangular, with a short stem, and slightly punctured at the intersections. [Illustration: EGGS OF THE LEAF INSECT.] The "soothsayer," on the other hand _(Mantis superstitiosa_ Fab.[1]), little justifies by its propensities the appearance of gentleness, and the attitudes of sanctity, which have obtained for it its title of the praying mantis. Its habits are carnivorous, and degenerate into cannibalism, as it preys on the weaker individuals of its own species. Two which I enclosed in a box were both found dead a few hours after, literally severed limb from limb in their encounter. The formation of the foreleg enables the tibia to be so closed on the sharp edge of the thigh as to amputate any slender substance grasped within it. [Footnote 1: _M. aridifolia_ and _M. extensicollis_, as well as _Empusa gongyloides_, remarkable for the long leaf-like head, and dilatations on the posterior thighs, are common in the island.] _The Stick-insect_--The _Phasmidoe_ or spectres, another class of orthoptera, present as close a resemblance to small branches or leafless twigs as their congeners do to green leaves. The wing-covers, where they exist, instead of being expanded, are applied so closely to the body as to detract nothing from its rounded form, and hence the name which they have acquired of "_walking-sticks_." Like the _Phyllium_, the _Phasma_ lives exclusively on vegetables, and some attain the length of several inches. Of all the other tribes of the _Orthoptera_ Ceylon possesses many representatives; in swarms of cockroaches, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets.