146 



WILD NATURES WAYS. 



in clearing the air of a vast number of troublesome 

 flies. The illustration below shows the dew- 

 laden spiders' webs set on a very limited portion 

 of a hedgerow, and makes one wonder how any 

 winged insect lives to tell the tale. 



Whilst in Scotland last summer, I caught a 

 beautifully variegated female spider amongst some 

 ling, and placed her in a matchbox in my pocket. 

 In a few days she laid a ball of eggs as large as 

 a dried pea, and embedded the whole in a beautiful 

 cushion of siik of exactly the same tint of yellow 

 as that of the paper by which the chip-box was 

 bound together. For weeks I carried her about 



SPIDERS' WEBS LADEN WITH DEW. 



