OF HARTING. 455 



sunshine on walls, fences, and trunks of trees. This 

 species does not fairly run down its game as others do, 

 but quarters the field, as it were, in a succession of 

 irregular darting movements until it espies its intended 

 victim, a fly, for instance, from that moment its motions 

 are singularly cautious. Keeping its head steadily in 

 the direction of its prey, it moves almost imperceptibly 

 tov/ards it, if the fly takes a few steps either way, the 

 wily spider does the same, and at every such change 

 of position contrives to lessen the interval between 

 itself and the unsuspecting insect, until at last, quick 

 as lightning, it springs sideways upon it and quickly 

 despatches it. We have more than once seen this 

 crafty hunter pounce upon a little projection above the 

 level of its hunting ground, as if it had mistaken it for 

 a living object, but its disappointment, if it felt any, 

 did not appear to be of long duration. 



Passing over the Money Spinners (Theridion line- 

 alum}, frequently found on bushes and shrubs, and 

 Theridion benignum, whose loose protecting nets are 

 so liberally thrown over the grapes on outdoor vines 

 in the autumn, that they can have escaped the notice 

 of few observant gardeners, we reach the last section 

 of the Arachnida, which is chiefly made up of Mites. 

 In these there is no outward distinction between head, 

 thorax and abdomen, and the respiration is carried on 

 by means of tracheae, as in true insects. 



Occupying an intermediate position between the 

 Mites and true Spiders, are found the Shepherd 

 Spiders or Harvestmen (Phalangiuni), those long 

 slender-legged spider-like creatures so common in 

 autumn among the herbage in the Park and on the 

 Downs. They are predacious, and it is interesting 

 to note that, in the stilt-like character of their limbs, 

 they are specially fitted, like the Daddy Long-legs 

 found in the same situations, for making their way 

 with ease over the impediments of a grassy surface. 



The family of Mites supplies us with Acarus de- 



