THE BANDED EPEIRA 193 



this talent, they are specialists. Their province is the 

 Domestic Bee. 



Animals are a little like ourselves : they excel in an art 

 only on condition of specializing in it. The Epeira, 

 who, being omnivorous, is obliged to generalize, aban- 

 dons scientific methods and makes up for this by dis- 

 tilling a poison capable of producing torpor and even 

 death, no matter what the point attacked. 



Recognizing the large variety of game, we wonder 

 how the Epeira manages not to hesitate amid those many 

 diverse forms, how, for instance, she passes from the 

 Locust to the Butterfly, so different in appearance. To 

 attribute to her as a guide an extensive zoological knowl- 

 edge were wildly in excess of what we may reasonably 

 expect of her poor intelligence. The thing moves, there- 

 fore it is worth catching: this formula seems to sum up 

 the Spider's wisdom. 



The Telegraph-wire 



Of the six Garden Spiders that form the object of my 

 observations, two only, the Banded and the Silky Epeira, 

 remain constantly in their webs, even under the blinding 

 rays of a fierce sun. The others, as a rule, do not show 

 themselves until nightfall. At some distance from the 

 net they have a rough-and-ready retreat in the brambles, 

 an ambush made of a few leaves held together by 

 stretched threads. It is here that, for the most part, 

 they remain in the daytime, motionless and sunk in 

 meditation. 



But the shrill light that vexes them is the joy of the 



