32 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



the thick bark of an ivy-clad willow, about five feet from the ground, 

 on April 10, 1905. 



When moving, its normal line of progression is forward ; so long 

 as it is undisturbed, it goes slowly, keeping its nippers expanded as 

 it proceeds ; but, on being disturbed, it runs rapidly in either a 

 forward or a backward line. I have seen one, disturbed by a 

 centipede, run rapidly forward, and when again overtaken, as it was 

 in the course of the next second or so, repeat the rapid motion. 

 On the other hand, when touched by a pin from behind, it may 

 dart rapidly backwards over the obstruction. But its normal 

 procedure, when interfered with from behind, is to give a sudden 

 jerk round so as to face the object of annoyance, and at the same 

 time make a hasty retreat of a quarter-inch or half an inch from the 

 cause of the disturbance, and if still suspicious which is not usually 

 the case to continue its backward run. By tormenting it with a 

 pin from behind, I have caused the creature to display these sudden 

 "right-about turns" repeatedly. In its backward run, it has the 

 pedi palps retracted to the sides of the fore -body, but keeps its 

 nippers directed outwards a little on either side from its head. 



Twice I have observed Ch. rayi with its prey, the victim on 

 each occasion being a mite. On April 17, 1905, in Brittany, I 

 watched one carrying a mite in its chelicerae, and turning the 

 mite about in both chelicerag. Again on Sept. 29, 1905, I saw 

 an immature CJi. rayi with a mite, near Kinkell, Fife ; and as 

 shortly before, during my examination of the same stone, I had 

 noticed a mite come in contact with a young Ch. rayi and escape 

 again, I believe I just missed seeing the capture made. 



I had long suspected that the breeding habits of this species 

 would be similar to those of O. muscomm, but it was not till Sep- 

 tember 1903 that I discovered, in their stronghold at Fife, this most 

 interesting part of their economy. I happened to turn up a stone on 

 which there were three individuals ; one of these was extremely 

 active, and, in its efforts to escape from me, it entered a cranny where 

 another Ch. rayi was lying hid. Across this cranny there had origin- 

 ally stretched a silk covering, but this had been ruptured and only 

 its remains were now clinging to the edge of the cranny ; the creature 

 within the cranny was a female with her embryonic mass attached to 

 her under surface. She was living in the simple recess, but she prob- 

 ably found that such a convenient cranny fitted her purposes as well 

 as a nest formed on the flat surface of a stone would have done. 1 

 searched on, and after finding a young Ch. rayi newly emerged 

 appearing merely as a white speck moving on a stone, and another 

 Ch. rayi a little farther advanced, I turned up a stone containing 

 three Ch. rayi and three Ch. dubius. On this stone there was a 

 conspicuous nest of the same style as that of O. muscorum but double 

 the size. On examination this proved to be two nests adjoining each 



