AN OCTOBER DIARY. 808 



Except the turret-bnilding spider, so common in cer- 

 tain of our upland fields, these creatures, as a class, have 

 not been closely studied, so far as to determine the dif- 

 ferences in their habits. In a very general way they 

 are the same — they spin lace webs, in which insects are 

 caught, and these the spiders feed upon — so far, so good ; 

 but there is a great mouse-colored spider in the garret, 

 as large as a mouse, I believe, of which I long to know 

 more. She is big enough to be a bird-killer, such as 

 Bates describes in his incomparable "Naturalist on the 

 Amazons," but finds other food, I suppose, in the garret, 

 that suits as well. I have never been able to find her 

 hiding-place, nor seen her feeding upon any animal. 

 She darts across the floor, occasionally, and once I cor- 

 nered her, but, am free to confess, I had not the courage 

 to do more. Her abundant eyes shone with such fiery in- 

 dignation at being disturbed, and her general attitude was 

 so threatening, I held back. She showed fight too plain- 

 ly to be misunderstood ; but I have no reason to believe 

 could inflict any serious injury. Certainly mere size is 

 no indication of it. I have seen this mammoth spider 

 twenty times, and, unless there are more than one in the 

 garret, which I very much doubt, she is fully ten years 

 old, and still living. This, of itself, is an unusual cir- 

 cumstance. Speaking of the ages of these creatures, 

 Emerton remarks: "Blackwall observed nine moults 

 in Tegenaria civilis,Si spider that lives several years. 

 Many species, and among them some of the largest, live 

 only one year, hatching in the winter, leaving the cocoon 

 in early summer, and laying eggs and dying in autumn. 

 . . . Some species are found adult at all seasons, and 



