A Beast of Prey 6i 



recognition ; and at otlicr times it was destroyed 

 b\ the housemaid oi* the gardener. On an average, 

 1 should sav, Rosalind had to rebuild the whole 

 eonceiii about onee in three da\>. ; and as she was 

 obliged to spin it all out of her own body, this came 

 verv expensive. We noticed, however, that she 

 was economically minded, for she wasted no web ; 

 I think she ate up all loose ends or renniants : and 

 the central portion, where she occasionally reposed 

 on the look-out for prey, was free from the viscid 

 beads which elsewhere adorned the cross-pieces. 

 You see, this part of the structure was of com- 

 paratively small service as a snare, while the sticky 

 stuff wt)idd have interfered with her own freedom 

 of movement. She usually avoided the beaded 

 spiral, and onlv ran alonij the stouter spokes or 

 cables. 



Hut the most wonderful scene of all was wit- 

 nessed when Rosalind found in her net a lar]L*e 

 wasp or a blow-tlv. On such occasions, she was 

 <^eneially restint^ in her nest under the rose-leaf, 

 with one foot held iirndy on the cord of communi- 

 cation. If a li.^ht pull oidy came, she would rush 

 wddly forth, and seize in a frenzy the small tly 

 tliat caused it. She seemed as if drunk with lust 

 of carnajfc. But when the strength of the pull 

 showed her that a larj^e bee or wasp was stru}4<^lin^ 

 in the web, she would act in various ways according 

 to the needs (<f the moment. Wasps she ap- 

 proached, we noticed, with considerable fear ; slic 

 knew their danj^erous nature. But she was seldom 

 afraid, even so, of tackling them ; though at times, 



