60 FLASHLIGHTS ON NATURE 



tiger and cobra combined ; with the claws of a lion 

 and the poison-fangs of a serpent ; both which she 

 supplements by a treacherous snare, itself a union 

 of the net and the bird-lime trap. No wonder, 

 with such an armoury, that she has prospered 

 exceedingly in the struggle for existence. And, 

 indeed, you will find garden spiders wherever you 

 go. They are one of the most successful types in 

 creation. 



We watched our Rosalind closely through the 

 whole of a season. It was a curious drama of 

 blood and treachery. For the most part she lay 

 concealed like a secret assassin in her nest behind 

 the rose-leaf, seldom spreading her net in the sight 

 of the victim ; but sometimes, assuming the role of 

 highway robber, she would boldly rest in the very 

 centre of her snare, with her head downward, 

 waiting for the approach of casual small insects. 

 At such times, we noticed the larger and more in- 

 telligent flies usually gave her a wide berth ; she 

 seldom caught bluebottles or bees on these occa- 

 sions of open display ; but tiny gnats and midges, 

 less careful or less wise, would get entangled in her 

 web, and at these she would rush out viciously, 

 sucking them dry then and there, and rejecting 

 their empty skeletons with lordly unconcern. Her 

 appetite was unbounded ; but she grew so quick, 

 she had so often to remake or repair her broken 

 snare, and she was laying by so constantly for her 

 maternal functions and her eight hundred eggs, 

 that this did not surprise us. The web, indeed, 

 was often torn by wasps or large flies out of all 



