v] 



TRAP-SNARES AND BALLOONS 



broods of spiders distribute themselves, especially the 

 sedentary kinds which would otherwise soon become 

 over crowded in the neighbourhood of the parent 

 nest. And we really need not have sought out 

 a railing at all except for its very great convenience 

 of observation. The same thing is going on every- 



Fig. 4. Young spider preparing for an aerial voyage. 



where. It largely accounts for the astonishing carpet 

 of silk that the dew reveals to us on lawns and 

 meadows at such times of the year. Young spiders 

 have been busy from early dawn crawling over the 

 grass, climbing the higher blades, and setting sail, 

 and the whole field is covered with their lines. 

 Railings come in handy as furnishing an elevated 



3-2 



