80 
THE LADIES 1 MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
There is a ground spider common in this country, which has neither 
house nor home, living constantly a roving life in fields and gardens. 
What makes this species more conspicuous than others is, the habit 
the female has of attaching her bag of eggs to her tail, and carrying 
it about her wherever she goes. It is a cruel boy’s sport to dissever 
the bag of eggs from the mother, who, when thus deprived of the object 
of her maternal care, appears stupefied; turning herself round in great 
anxiety, and showing evident signs of distress. If the bag be again 
presented to her, she embraces it with all her limbs, and endeavours 
hastily to carry it away. 
Another sort, of a black colour, middle size, and having very short 
legs, but extremely active, lives in a hole of a wall. The interior of the 
hole is smoothly lined, and round the mouth a web is disposed of a 
peculiar fabric ; for instead of the lines being stretched tight from point 
to point over the surface, they seem to be left quite slack, like the hard- 
twisted silk of which crape is made; at any rate the threads are disposed 
so loosely that they form exceedingly fast fetters to the feet of flies which 
alight upon them, and which, indeed, can but very rarely extricate 
themselves. But, as soon as the spider feels there is a captive, she rushes 
out, and, as quick as thought, inflicts a bite on the back of the fly; she 
then instantly retreats to her cell, leaving the mortally wounded fly, after 
a few struggles, to die. I have seen the green-gold flesh-fly, as well as 
the blue one of the same size, killed in an instant by the poisonous bite of 
this remarkable spider; but I never witnessed her devouring any of her 
victims, which I .supposed she did in the night, as they were always 
removed from the web before morning. 
While this species trusts to the entangling property of her web, and the 
fatal effect of her bite, for her food, others there are which are roving 
marauders, depending on their cunning and bold daring in seizing flies, or 
any other insect that falls in their way. One of these is A. scenica , a 
small species of a grey colour, which inhabits dry ground or walls, 
especially when the sun shines on them, inviting flies to bask thereon. 
Here this spider exhibits all her art; and the observer will soon find that 
vigilance to discover, caution to surprise, courage to attack, and im¬ 
petuosity in fighting, are all qualifications of this insect of prey. She 
walks stealthily along the hollows, or joints of the surface of the wall ; 
every now and then turning round to look behind, or peeping over any 
prominence to discover a fly at rest. If the fly be too distant, the spider 
winds her way crouchingly round to gain a nearer station to spring from 
upon her prey. When near enough she prepares to leap, by bringing her 
feet under her body, and then at once darts away, pouncing upon the 
