236 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. XIV. 



versed it round, examined the strength of every part of 

 it, retired into its hole, and came out very frequently. 

 The first enemy, however, it had to encounter was 

 another and a much larger spider, which, having no 

 web of its own, and having probably exhausted all 

 its stock in former labours of this kind, came to in- 

 vade the property of its neighbour. Soon then a 

 terrible encounter ensued, in which the invader 

 seemed to have the victory, and the laborious spider 

 was obliged to take refuge in its hole. Upon this I 

 perceived the victor using every art to draw the enemy 

 from its strong-hold. He seemed to go off, but 

 quickly returned ; but when he found all arts vain, he 

 began to demolish the new web without mercy. 

 This brought on another battle ; and contrary to my 

 expectations, the laborious spider became conqueror, 

 and fairly killed its antagonist. 



" Now then in peaceable possession of what justly 

 was its own, it waited three days repairing the 

 breaches of its web, and taking, as I could perceive, 

 no sustenance. At last a large bluebottle fell into 

 the snare, and struggled hard to get loose. The 

 spider gave it leave to entangle itself as much as 

 possible, but it seemed to be too strong for its cob- 

 web. It sallied out, and stopped the motion of the 

 fly's wings by quickly weaving around them a web ; 

 and, thus hampered, it seized and dragged it into its 

 hole. 



" I once put a wasp into the net ; but when the 

 spider came out to seize it, as usual, upon perceiving 

 what kind of an enemy it had to deal with, it in- 

 stantly broke all the bands that held it fast, and con- 

 tributed all that lay in its power to disengage so 

 formidable an antagonist. When the wasp was at 

 liberty, I expected that the spider would set about 

 repairing the breaches which were made in its net ; 

 but these it seems were irreparable, wherefore the 

 web was now entirely forsaken, and a new one be- 

 gun, which was completed in the usual time. 



