All these ravenous eaters are alike: they guzzle to excess to-day, in anticipation of to-morrow's dearth.
THE LAYING.
Chance, a poor stand-by, sometimes contrives very well.

At the beginning of the month of August, the children call me to the far side of the enclosure, rejoicing in a find which they have made under the rosemary-bushes.

It is a magnificent Lycosa, with an enormous belly, the sign of an impending delivery.
Early one morning, ten days later, I find her preparing for her confinement.

A silk network is first spun on the ground, covering an extent about equal to the palm of one's hand.

It is coarse and shapeless, but firmly fixed.