NATURE'S CRAFTSMEN 



for the foundations of her snare. A fourth, nearer the 

 stream, is encamped upon a copse of wild blackberries, 

 whose leaves are already taking on that rich russet 



which heralds the 

 coming autumn 

 and the ripened 

 year. 



Your approach, 

 >#gnalled from 

 plant to plant by 

 the rustling foli- 

 age, has disturbed 

 our aranead, watch- 

 ing solitary, head 

 downward, against 

 her white silken 

 shield. See ! the 

 web begins to move. 

 Slowly it sways 

 towards you — then 

 away; forward and 

 back, to and fro, 

 faster and faster — 

 until the whole orb 

 seems in a whirl of 

 motion, the centre 

 Curious! And how is 



WEAVING THE ZIGZAG OR SPIRAL STAIR 



of which is the silken shield, 

 it done ? And why ? 



At first you can note the bending and straightening 

 of the legs by which the web is drawn backward and 

 forward. But soon your eyes cease to follow the move- 

 ments, and you stand in amaze at these rare gyrations 

 until the web gradually grows still. Perhaps the oscil- 



244 



