vw eT ee 
PROCURING FOOD AND FEEDING. 259 
supply of food. Others, less favorably situated, are seen feeding less 
rarely. In this matter of location the spider is very much dependent 
_ upon chance. The force or endurance of a current of wind 
Location during the first acronautic flight, or the particular obstruction 
Controls : j : 
Food. upon which the balloon may be arrested, will be circumstances 
determining the future habitat of the Orbweaver. 
More frequently the range of life action is determined by the po- 
sition in which the maternal cocoon is suspended, the natural tendency 
of spiderlings after egress being to distribute themselyes in the imme- 
diate vicinity of their birth. But Orbweavers do crawl about from point 
to point and shift the site of their snares. I have known one to change its 
position by passing along one or two intervening city fences into an ad- 
joining yard. The course and extent of these migrations are determined 
by the position and continuity of the foliage. But so strong is the seden- 
tary habit of Orbweavers that they will suffer a great amount of priva- 
tion before leaving the neighborhood, or indeed the immediate site of their 
snares. If for any reason this should happen to be poorly stocked with 
the creatures’ natural food, their chance for growth and life is poor indeed; 
and I have no doubt that sometimes they perish from starvation. 
In certain positions it is doubtless true that the excess of life goes to 
supply the lack of life nutrition. In other words, spiders are cannibals, 
d and prey upon each other. The cocoons formed by female Orb- 
Feeding weavers usually send forth large colonies of younglings. As soon 
on Hach : 3 
Other, 2° they set up housekeeping for themselves they begin to prey 
upon each other and upon all other sorts of araneads. The 
strong, or skillful, or fortunate devour the weaker, less cunning, and the 
unlucky. A few only survive; the great majority must go to give nourish- 
ment to the few and secure the perpetuation of the species. Undoubtedly, 
in certain sites, this redundancy of life through maternal fecundity is an 
important, even an essential, factor in the food supply of spiders. 
One who has observed the habit of spiders to spin their webs across 
cowpaths, footpaths, and the various trails leading through meadows, pas- 
ture lands, and woodlands, must have had occasion to reflect 
upon the uncertainty of spider possessions, and perhaps have 
‘felt a touch of pity for the industrious creatures whose pains- 
taking work is so continually broken down by passing animals and men. 
It is certainly true that great loss is thus caused, and that spiders are con- 
tinually subject to the destruction of their snares by all manner of passing 
creatures; yet there is some compensation for this destruction. 
I have often noticed that, as I walked back and forth over the fields, 
the grasshoppers, crickets, and other insects were stirred up by my move- 
ments, leaped or flew to this side or to that, and in their alarm and 
haste numbers of them struck the snares of the near by spiders, were at 
once entangled, and became the prey of the waiting proprietors. Thus it 
Beating 
up Game 
