My Neighbour 229 



reason, or for others which escape me, the 

 Banded and the Silky Epeirae think it wise to 

 produce durable work and to strengthen their 

 toils with a cross-ribbon. The other Epeirae, 

 who are put to less expense in the fabrication 

 of their maternal wallet — a mere pill — are un- 

 acquainted with the zigzag binder and, like the 

 younger Spiders, reconstruct their web almost 

 nightly. 



My fat neighbour, the Angular Epeira, con- 

 sulted by the light of a lantern, shall tell us how 

 the renewal of the net proceeds. As the twilight 

 fades, she comes down cautiously from her day- 

 dwelling ; she leaves the foliage of the cypresses 

 for the suspension-cable of her snare. Here she 

 stands for some time ; then, descending to her 

 web, she collects the wreckage in great armfuls. 

 Everything — spiral, spokes and frame — is raked 

 up with her legs. One thing alone is spared and 

 that is the suspension-cable, the sturdy piece of 

 work that has served as a foundation for the 

 previous buildings and will serve for the new 

 after receiving a few strengthening repairs. 



The collected ruins form a pill which the 

 Spider consumes with the same greed that she 



