62 



FLASHLIGHTS ON NATURE 



if a very large and truculent specimen got en- 

 tangled in the web, she seemed to despair of land- 

 ing him. In such cases, she would cut him out 

 bodily, by biting the threads, and let him drop at 



once, thankful, like 

 Dogberry, to be rid 

 of a knave. A mode- 

 rate-sized wasp, how- 

 ever, she would rush 

 out and attack in that 

 frenzy of rage and 

 hunger, a sort of mad, 

 blind rage, which one 

 often notices in fierce 

 carnivorous animals. 

 She would begin her 

 onslaught near the 

 victim's head, avoid- 

 ing his sting, and en- 

 velop him in web, 

 till his wings were 

 pinioned ; then she 

 would cautiously ap- 

 proachj. nearer and 

 nearer to the tail, but 

 give the actual sting 

 a wide berth till the 

 conclusion of opera- 

 tions. The wasp, meanwhile, would keep protrud- 

 ing his poisoned lance in evident fury, striking 

 wildly at the air ; while the spider continued to 

 suck him dry quietly, from the head backward, 



NO. 6. ROSALIND ON HER WAY TO 

 SECURE A BLOW-FLY. 



