THE SNARE- WE A VERS. 
'95 
upon their prey, creeping slowly along a wall and 
sliding nearer and 
Fig. 67. 
nearer, till sudden- 
ly they leap, and 
seizing the victim 
kill it, and return 
by the silken thread 
which connects 
them with the wall 
above, and saves 
them if they fall 
too far. These 
spiders often roll 
up their cocoons 
in the leaves of 
some bush where 
you may find them 
in the early spring. 
The hunters and 
leapers can often A Huntin S Spi ^5£ * ^ ° f eg§S ' *" 
find food which 
does not come in the way of the web-spinners, and 
when all the domains of earth and air are overrun, 
then there are other kinds which take to the water. 
How few people think as they walk through quiet 
country-lanes, that in the deep watery ditches often 
to be found near rivers which run in low ground, 
a little water-spider may be living, coming to the 
top to breathe as a diver does, and carrying down 
air- bubbles entangled in the fur which covers her 
body and between her legs, and so filling a curious 
domed hall which she has built in the water below. 
* Dolomedes mirabilis. 
