284 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. 



Spiders when suddenly disturbed or frightened arc 

 believed by some people to feign death, tucking up their 

 legs and lying quite motionless. The Peckhams made 

 many experiments to test this faculty. The conclusion at 

 which they arrived, which seems to me exceedingly just, is 

 that there seem to be no reasonable grounds for thinking 

 that spiders have any idea of simulating death, since only 

 about once in fifty times is their attitude, when motionless 

 from alarm, like that which they assume when really 

 dead. I question, indeed, whether this argument is 

 quite valid, for if their stillness made their enemies think 

 they were dead the exact resemblance of their attitude to 

 that of dead spiders would not much signify. Still the 

 general conclusion seems correct. When another spider 

 runs to a place of safety, an Epeira drops to a place of 

 safety. Both then remain quiet unless disturbed, in which 

 case the first spider trusts to its power of running, while 

 the Epeira often, but not invariably, finds its best chance 

 of safety in keeping quiet unless it is actually and severely 

 hurt. The habit of keeping quiet also insures the spider's 

 safe return to its web when the danger is over, for if the 

 line connecting her with the web is broken, she experiences 

 considerable difficulty, poor short-sighted creature that she 

 is, in finding her way back to her home. 



A question that is a good deal discussed among natural- 

 ists is whether in birds and insects and other animals the 

 female exercises any choice in the selection of her mate on 

 the score of his beauty, tuneful voice, or agility as a 

 dancer. Mr. and Mrs. Peckham are decidedly of opinion 

 that Miss Spider is guided in her selection by such con- 

 siderations. They give the following description of the love- 

 dance executed by an agile little fellow named Saitis : 



He saw her as she stood perfectly still, twelve inches 



