SPIDERS AND THEIR WAYS. 797 



it displays the resources of its intelligence ; it makes the repairs 

 that are called for in a way that will command the attention of 

 the intelligent observer. Particular tools are necessary for exe- 

 cuting works demanding precision. Accordingly, the claws of the 

 epeira are of a much more complicated construction than those of 



Fig. 8. — Web of the Garden Spider. 



other spiders. One of them is cleft so as to form a fork, with 

 which the artist is able to hold its threads and put them precisely 

 where they are wanted to be. 



In attack, the epeira holds itself in the center of the web, head 

 down. If an insect strikes against the network, it precipitates 

 itself upon the game, which instantly finds itself held and tied in 

 such a way that it can not escape. At the end of the summer this 

 garden-spinner is depositing its eggs, and incloses them in a cocoon 

 made of a different kind of silk from those which enter into the 

 construction of its web. The poor mother, who must die in the 

 autumn, takes care to hide the cradle of her offspring in as secluded 

 a place as possible. The young spiders, when, hatched in the 

 spring, remain together for several weeks as one family, after 

 which they scatter and live isolated after the general manner of 

 the daughters of Arachne. 



In various parts of the East Indies and in the islands of the 

 Pacific Ocean there are brilliant epeiras of superb proportions. 

 The species are numerous, and the individuals occur, in many 

 places, in multitudes. Some of these spiders prefer situations 

 over water-courses, where they offer the most enchanting spectacle 

 to the eye. In the midst of the most luxuriant and intricate vege- 

 tation the epeiras stretch their nets from the tops of the highest 

 trees from one side of the river to the other. The traveler, looking 

 up from his canoe beneath, views with admiration these delicate 



