Arachnida. 



8043 



back to the station, with about the same result, finished my day in 

 this district. The day had been a most lovely one, and, it being the 

 first time I had ever heard the wild cries of the curlew in its nesting- 

 ground, or seen the golden plover alive in its summer plumage, it was 

 a day that I shall never forget, though not marked by the success in 

 spider-hunting that I had anticipated. Those who are as fond as I 

 am of wild scenery, with the birds and beasts that inhabit it, and can 

 recollect their first introduction to a Scotch moor, its screaming cur- 

 lews and its plaintive plovers, will readily understand the pleasure of 

 that, my first introduction to the same. 



The only other capture worth special notice in this neighbourhood 

 was of adult males of Walckenaera humilis, running on the pavements 

 in Edinburgh in bright sunshine. I had only met with this curious 

 but very minute black spider once before, and so, though sometimes 

 in the most crowded thoroughfares of Edinburgh, it was not to be 

 slighted. The passers-by would occasionally stop, probably won- 

 dering what the tall parson could be about picking up and bottling 

 small black specks off the pavements. If they had known I was 

 bottling spiders I might have incurred their wrath, though I doubt 

 whether the spider, whose success in fixing its web on its seventh 

 trial determined Robert the Bruce to try his luck once more, was of 

 the species Walckenaera humilis ; if it was, that would be some sort 

 of a title to run on the pavements of Edinburgh. However that may 

 be, it certainly was not the fear of Scotch wrath on this point that 

 made me feel uncomfortable, for 1 confess that 1 always do feel just a 

 little so for the moment, when a spider has to be captured under pub- 

 lic gaze. To care absolutely nothing for what people think (and 

 sometimes say) on such an occasion, is a difficult lesson to learn 

 thoroughly. Some entomologists of my acquaintance will walk 

 through a town, net in hand, with the utmost indifference ; but for my 

 own part I much prefer secreting the implements of the craft in my 

 pocket until far from the gaze even of an enlightened British public, 

 and well out on my working ground. Still I must say, weakly sensi- 

 tive though 1 may be, to ignorant wonder and ridicule, an unknown 

 spider taking an airing on a pavement, however frequented, has 

 charms for me that I cannot resist. 



The 31st of June found myself, my cousin (the Rev. H. A. Pickard, 

 of Christchurch, Oxford), and another companion, toiling up the steep 

 ascent of Ben A'an, just behind the Trosachs hotel. My cousin's bent 

 was Lepidoptera, that of our companion was " only to go up some 

 ' Ben ' or other," and, that done, his purpose and ambition in Scotch 



