823 UPLAND AND MEADOW. 



has been so often noticed with reference to crows, these 

 birds were somewhat bewildered by the fog, and were 

 discussing the subject in the only practicable way, by 

 talking; only, instead of their ordinary clear - weather 

 voices, this morning they seemed to have sore throats. 



The spiders, of course, gloried in the fog, and all had 

 their nets spread out to perfection. One web, covering 

 the opening in a hollow fence-rail where a knot had 

 loosened and fallen out, was unusually elaborate; so 

 much so that I stopped to examine it. The web was 

 funnel-shaped, eighteen inches in diameter at the ex- 

 terior rira, and twelve inches in depth, or from the ex- 

 terior margin to the knot-hole, where the owner lived. 

 She was a dull, gray, hairy creature, an inch long, and 

 rather forbidding in general appearance. There was 

 no prey in the web at the time, so I hunted for the 

 spider's as well as my own benefit. A single beetle 

 was all that I could find, but this the spider declined 

 to notice. A little later I found a dead kinglet or ruby- 

 crowned wren, and this 1 gently placed on the web, 

 where it appeared to be strong enough to bear its 

 weight. The spider promptly rushed out and bit it 

 several times, but made no attempt to move it. Then 

 it began to spin other webs about it, in such a manner 

 as to hold it perfectly secure. That this spider can eat 

 even so small a bird is, I am sure, impracticable, so am 

 puzzled to know what object it has in view with refer- 

 ence to it. Time will show. 



October 14. — Clear as crystal, save a long line of 



