182 F. P. SMITH ON SOME BRITISH SPIDERS TAKEN IN 1907. 



is assiduously preparing for future publication. Shortly after my 

 arrival I was shown a number of dried spiders, collected many 

 years ago by Mr. Morey, and amongst them I at once noticed 

 a specimen of T. formicarius, marked "June 19th, 1886, Luccombe 

 Chine." Mr. Morey very generously presented me with this 

 specimen, and I should have visited Luccombe in the hope of 

 finding more had I not deemed it advisable, owing to the shortness 

 of my visit and my host's desire for a good " list," to avoid spending 

 any time in railway journeys. The next day we visited Parkhurst 

 Forest, a fine stretch of woodland, which I regret has recently 

 been closed to the public. Here, in several spots, I noticed an 

 undergrowth consisting of coarse grass, plentifully intermixed 

 with small, often hidden gorse plants. Knowing a little con- 

 cerning the habits of Toxeus from Continental records, I deter- 

 mined to carefully work these undergrowth^, and, towards 

 evening, was rewarded by finding a young specimen of the 

 coveted spider. This decided the next (the last) day's programme, 

 when seven hours' work produced several more immature examples 

 and three adult males. 



The only satisfactory method of working this gorse-besprinkled 

 undergrowth is a very uncomfortable one. One has to lie flat 

 down, and forcibly separate the refractory herbage almost to the 

 roots, for the spiders construct small silken tubes amongst the 

 dense grass quite close to the ground. I have tried lying upon 

 thick cloth, etc., to avoid the gorse prickles, but found the addition 

 more of a nuisance than an advantage, as one is constantly 

 crawling backwards or forwards, and the cloth either gets in 

 the way or is left behind. The prickles, too, manage to find 

 their way through almost anything, and it is a question whether 

 one is more disconcerted by the many stabs which are expected 

 than by the occasional ones which come unawares. Of course 

 one's enthusiasm at the time discounts the pain considerably, and 

 the physical damage is far more evident the next day, when the 

 enthusiasm has somewhat diminished. Gloves, too, although 

 affording some amount of protection, are by no means conducive 

 to profitable work : seeing a spider is one thing, but catching it 

 is quite another matter. Two more remarks which apply to the 

 collection of spiders generally, but particularly to such species as 

 T. formicarius, which frequent sunny situations and move rapidly, 

 may not be out of place here. In the first place it is a dangerous 



