THE SPIDERS OF THE TYNE VALLEY. 34I 



flight. Here the curlew, lapwing, snipe, and other moorland 

 birds join their voices to his and produce the breezy sounds 

 so characteristic of a northern moor. The dry piercing air 

 suits some spiders more than others, and while many forms 

 common in the valleys beneath are absent, several distinctly 

 subalpine species occur under the stones and cut turves, or 

 amongst the heather. In winter the snow falls heavily, lies 

 long, and the Common well deserves its name. 



Extensive swamps are rare, but there is one in connection 

 with the Erring Burn, which joins the North Tyne near 

 ChoUerton. It is in process of silting itself up, and has in 

 consequence formed this swamp, which is of considerable 

 extent. In summer much of it is used as pasture, but in 

 winter it is largely under water. 



There are also sandhills on the coast at Whitley and Monk- 

 seaton. They are not well developed, but I have done too 

 little work there to criticize their fauna. 



In addition to these particular kinds of locality, we must 

 refer to the general character of the Hexham district. The 

 face of the country side is exceedingly beautiful. Undulating, 

 wooded, and fertile, with a noble river rolling swiftly through 

 its midst, it is one of which its inhabitants should be proud. 

 Several English counties are more striking in appearance. 

 Very few I should imagine are so sweet. 



It is a fact that whereas some species of spiders are 

 generally distributed, others only inhabit certain particular 

 kinds of locality. Hence we should not expect to find in 

 Tynedale spiders peculiar to mountainous districts, such as 

 have occurred on the Cheviots and Cumbrian mountains. 

 Neither, since the coast is not yet worked out, should we find 

 in our list the names of many truly littoral species. In a 

 district like that of Hexham we should however expect to find 

 a good average selection of British spiders, with a pre- 

 ponderance of northern forms, also a few subalpine forms, 

 and one or two spiders whose range is chiefly southern, but 

 which do occur, though rarely, in the North. This is exactly 



