LOVE DANCES OP SALTIGKADES. 57 



deserves its name, and must be ranked as one of the most beautiful and 

 wonderful of living things. ^ 



This habit enables the natives to obtain specimens with comparative 

 ease. As soon as they find that the birds have fixed upon a tree on which 

 to assemble, they ambush themselves in the neighborhood. A boy waits at 

 the foot of the tree, and when the birds come at sunrise, and a sufficient 

 number have assembled and have begun to dance, the hunter shoots the 

 bird with a blunt arrow with sufficient force to stun it. It is then secured 

 and killed by the boy without its plumage being injured by a drop of 

 blood. The rest take no notice of the loss, but continue their amatory 

 dance, and fall one after another until some of them take the alarm. 



Thus in these widely separated orders of animal life the excitement of 

 the mating hour influences the males in substantially the same manner. 

 That is, the sexual agitation finds vent in saltigrade movements. 

 Displays before and around the female, of various forms and degrees of 

 ^Af^ ° f intensity. These movements appear to be directed towards the 

 Females female with a view to attract her attention, excite her affection, 

 and win her favors. As far as I can judge, there is no reason 

 why this apparent purpose should not be regarded as the real one, and that 

 these devices, common to spiders, crabs, birds, and doubtless other animals, 

 are really prompted by the wish to secure marital favors from the female, 

 and that they do have a sensible influence- upon her. 



V. 



Another interesting habit described by the Peckhams is the overspinning 



of the female by the male with a little tent or love bower, within which the 



two remain together, sometimes for several days. Three pairs 



ove ^j ^j^g Zebra spider (Epiblemum scenicura) were placed together 

 in a box, and after two hours they had all come to an agree- 

 ment and mated, the male in each case getting his partner in the corner 

 of the box and spinning a cover over and around her. Sometimes, while 

 the male was working, the female would wander off several inches, but 

 when the bower was nearly completed he would seek her and half lead 

 and half drive her home, when he would follow her into the nest. Here 

 the mating would be accomplished after some slight preliminaries. The 

 female seemed to have some difficulty in choosing from among the males, 

 but after a decision had been reached and a mate accepted, there appeared 

 to be complete agreement, and the male commenced to build his house. 



The habit of secluding and protecting the female has developed an 

 even more striking trait in at least one species. The males of Philaius 

 militaris were observed to select immature females, overspin them with a 

 little sheeted tent, then spin a second sheet above this as a cover for 



' The Malay Archipelago, by Alfred Russel Wallace, pages 466, 467. 



