Well, now look at this picture! See one absurd fellow lying on his back and pawing the air with all his long legs, and another, like a circus clown, standing on his own foolish green head. Would you think these awkward and ridiculous creatures bore any relationship to the grave little hoppers who gently alight on your clothes as you run through the grass, stop a moment to stare at you with their great goggle eyes, and then take leave without saying "good-morning"? He is no less than a cousin, I assure you, from the Far West, the great plains where few beasts, birds, or insects can find enough to live upon. This fellow does not suffer for food; he is the biggest of his family in America, and his curious performances have brought him several names. By some people he is called "the clumsy grasshopper," and by others he is dubbed "the great lubber locust," while by the scientific men, as usual, he has been given a long Latin name. Of course, you will be so eager to know it that you will wish to find it out for yourselves! THE DOG AND THE QUEER GRASSHOPPERS. [Illustration] By the way, a story is told of a dog that was fond of snapping up grasshoppers, and eating them. In one of his journeys with his master, he chanced to fall among those queer grasshoppers--the lubber locusts. As he ran along through the grass, his feet started up hundreds of the clumsy fellows, and, in trying to jump out of his way, they came down in groups upon him, as you see in the picture. Some stood on their heads upon his back; others turned somersaults over his ears, and a few struck him full in the face. Besides being impertinent they were very large, each two or three times the size and weight of one of our modest little hoppers. So poor Tom was first annoyed, and then scared. One or two, or even half a dozen, he could eat up or drive away, but a hundred were too many, and at last Tom dropped his head and tail and ran for his life, while his master scolded, and his master's friend laughed at the droll sight of a big dog running away from grasshoppers. THE LETTER-BOX. Contributors are respectfully informed that, between the 1st of June and the 15th of September, manuscripts can not conveniently be examined at the office of ST. NICHOLAS. Consequently, those who desire to favor the magazine with contributions will please postpone sending their MSS. until after the last-named date. If C. F. H. will send us her address, we shall gladly forward to her a number of letters sent us by readers of ST. NICHOLAS, in answer to her query. * * * * * LA CRESCENT.