INSECTS AT WORK AND PLAY. 145 



can compare with spiders. They are weavers, 

 hunters, aeronauts, telegraphists, preservers of 

 meat, magicians, devoted nurses, and many other 

 clever things, according to species and circum- 

 stance. 



Spiders' webs are, as a rule, like mushrooms — 

 growths of the night. The individual figured in 

 the illustration below was photographed by 

 magnesium flashlight between ten and eleven 

 o'clock on a still summer's night whilst she was 

 in the act of commencing to build a web between 

 two palings of a garden fence. 



It is only during early autumn iwornings, 

 when everything is powdered, so to speak, with 

 minute beads of dew, that we really become 

 aware of the immense service spiders render us 



SPIDER MAKING WEB. 

 K 



