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Here is what the ones we had last year looked like when they hatched in April. One of these little ones could very well be the one who laid today's egg case.

Oh yes, Bernard; birds often pry them open and eat the contents. This egg case will be left in place, because it's on a prized shrub of mine. But when we find them on dried or living weed stalks, we cut those and bring them up to the house, where we keep them in a protected situation until time for hatching. In the picture I copied to my comment, the yellow surface the baby mantises are walking on is actually one end of a twist tie, which I used to fasten a short stalk containing the egg case to a longer stick for the sake of convenience. Thanks for your comment!