THE ANIMAL FOOD OF BIRDS. 



57 



Spiders have eight legs, with a body divided into two principal 

 parts, and are predaceous creatures which feed largely upon 

 insects. They are found in all sorts of places and during all 

 seasons of the year. They enter very largely into the dietary 

 of the smaller birds, being especially fed to the nestlings, and 

 their surprising rate of reproduction seems to have been de- 

 veloped, in part at least, to meet this constant drain upon 

 their numbers. 



The harvest-spiders, harvest-men, daddy-long-legs, or grab- 

 for-gray-bears, as they are variously known in different parts of 



A HARVEST-SPIDER. 



the United States, form a distinctive family, Phalangiidce, 

 distinguished by having the three divisions of the body head, 

 thorax, and abdomen closely united, and four pairs of very 

 long legs. A common species is pictured above. These 



