HUMOURS OF INSECT LIFE 



She needs to be well fed before the wasting sleep of 

 winter and so must not fail to secure a plentiful sup- 

 ply of flies. Though at other times careful of her 

 store of silk, she does not hesitate now to weave a 

 new net whenever she may require it, if but the day 

 hold out a promise of fair weather. To prepare for 

 her long sleep seems to be the spider's chief purpose 

 when autumn comes. The law that determines her 

 existence is the survival of the fittest : so, if through 

 accident or extravagance her silken supply is ex- 

 hausted, she quickly visits the web of a near neigh- 

 bour, and contends with the owner for possession. 

 Such a battle frequently results in the death of one of 

 the combatants, and then the victor leisurely proceeds 

 to feast on the body of the slain. Should the aggressor 

 be also the conqueror, she makes a careful survey of 

 her new abode, and soon settles down to the enjoyment 

 of her ill-gotten gains. In time her store of silk is so 

 renewed that when she lays her eggs she is able to 

 enclose them in a watertight cocoon. This task com- 

 pleted, she at last retires to some sheltered cranny 

 in the hedge, and there constructs a silken chamber in 

 which, secure from rain and cold, she sleeps the winter 

 away. 



As the sun rises above the pink clouds at the horizon, 

 the yellow curtain in mid-sky fades into an almost 

 transparent veil, and gradually vanishes. The mist 



103 



