58 THOSE OTHER ANIMALS. 



by the spider. He makes no efforts to avoid a human 

 being, and will fly right into his face with the greatest 

 nonchalance; he will settle in his hair, and cling to his 

 clothes, but he will almost always manage to avoid a spider's 

 web. In the autumn spiders are extremely plentiful, and 

 their webs spread from bush to bush, and from tree to tree, 

 are a perfect nuisance to passers-by. With the nets spread 

 for them in all directions, it is wonderful how the Tipula 

 manages always to avoid these snares ; for, however thickly 

 they may be swarming in the garden, it will need a very 

 careful search to find a single specimen in one of the webs. 

 This naturally gives rise to the idea that the daddy-long- 

 legs is a far craftier insect than he is generally assumed to 

 be, and that his awkwardness of gait and motion is assumed 

 merely to gain sympathy and toleration ; just as a woman 

 pretends to be an invalid when she wishes to coax her 

 husband into giving her something she has set her mind on. 

 There may be something in the hypothesis, but the small- 

 ness of head and lack of brains are against the theory ; and 

 we prefer to believe that the insect's power of avoiding the 

 snares of the wily spider is due to some at present undis- 

 covered sense or instinct. The daddy-long-legs has not 

 been used to any extent for edible purposes, but there is no 

 reason why he should not be as good as the locust, who is 

 by no means bad eating. Those who are fond of experi- 

 ments could easily collect a sufficient number by the aid of 

 a sweep net on any piece of grass during the month of 

 September. 



