The Banded Epeira 



stocking, with the edges brought together, 

 but for a little round hole left at one side. 

 The outward appearances increase the like- 

 ness: one can almost see the traces of a knit- 

 ting-needle working with coarse stitches. 

 That is why, struck by this shape, the 

 Provencal peasant, in his expressive language, 

 calls the Penduline lou Debassaire, the Stock- 

 ing-knitter. 



The early-ripening seedlets of the willows 

 and poplars furnish the materials for the 

 work. There breaks from them, in May, a 

 sort of vernal snow, a fine down, which the 

 eddies of the air heap in the crevices of the 

 ground. It is a cotton similar to that of our 

 manufactures, but of very short staple. It 

 comes from an inexhaustible warehouse: the 

 tree is bountiful; and the wind from the osier- 

 beds gathers the tiny flocks as they pour from 

 the seeds. They are easy to pick up. 



The difficulty is to set to work. How does 

 the bird proceed, in order to knit its stock- 

 ing? How, with such simple implements as 

 its beak and claws, does it manage to produce 

 a fabric which our skilled fingers would fail 

 to achieve? An examination of the nest will 

 inform us, to a certain extent. 



IOI 



