264 The Life of the Spider 



wire. Of my observations on this subject, let 

 me relate the following, which will be suf&cient 

 for our purpose. 



An Angular Epeira, with a remarkably fine 

 belly, has spun her web between two laurestine- 

 shrubs, covering a width of nearly a yard. The 

 sun beats upon the snare, which is abandoned 

 long before dawn. The Spider is in her day 

 manor, a resort easily discovered by following 

 the telegraph-wire. It is a vaulted chamber 

 of dead leaves, joined together with a few bits 

 of silk. The refuge is deep : the Spider dis- 

 appears in it entirely, all but her rounded 

 hind-quarters, which bar the entrance to the 

 donjon. 



With her front half plunged into the back 

 of her hut, the Epeira certainly cannot see her 

 web. Even if she had good sight, instead of 

 being purblind, her position could not possibly 

 allow her to keep the prey in view. Does she 

 give up hunting during this period of bright 

 sunlight ? Not at all. Look again. 



Wonderful ! One of her hind-legs is stretched 

 outside the leafy cabin ; and the signaUing- 

 thread ends just at the tip of that leg. Whoso 



