148 WILD NATURE'S WAYS. 



death overtook her. Instead of eating her food, 

 she sealed it all up, and made a sort of larder of 

 tinned meat for the consumption of the young, that 

 fate destined her never to see. It was quite pathetic 

 to watch the creature working down to almost 

 the last available moment of life and strength. 



Some species of spiders form a sort of gossamer 

 umbrella or bower in the grass, and sit beneath it, 

 nursing a great ball of eggs, such as that shown 

 in the photographic reproduction on the previous 

 page. They exhibit the most wonderful devotion, 

 and will die rather than desert their charge. 



Others place their eggs in a cocoon, and then 

 weave a silken cage of great strength right round 

 it. Inside this cage they sit and watch for enemies 

 that would soon work irreparable havoc amongst 

 their newly hatched young. Such a wonderful 

 wealth of affection have these spiders for their 

 offspring that I have known them, even when 

 badly maimed by an accident which has over- 

 whelmed their home, heroically set to work 

 collecting the scattered eggs and repairing the 

 damaged cocoon. 



The artifices they employ in order to deceive 

 their enemies are nothing less than astonishing. 

 Whilst on the Broads on one occasion I dis- 

 covered a species which appeared to be conscious 

 of the fact that it matched in colour the reed stems 

 upon which it rested. It had a long straw-coloured 



