The majority of them are very small, more or less black, Theridiid spiders, the “micros” of the tribe, and their proper home is among the roots of grass and herbage. Many of these are interesting objects for the microscope—especially if males—because of the remarkable protuberances or turrets which rise from their heads and bear their eyes as on a watch tower. These spiders are clearly not “out” for food; they have left their ordinary beat for quite another purpose, and we shall probably not have to wait long before discovering it. Some one of the group ceases its apparently purposeless wandering, and, turning its head in the direction of what slight wind there is, raises its fore-body to the full extent of its straightened legs, and elevates its abdomen to the utmost. Now watch closely—using a handglass if you have one—and you will see streamers of silk proceeding from its spinnerets. They are shot out for a short distance and then the air current draws them out further till they often extend for several feet, though their extreme fineness makes it almost impossible to form an accurate judgment of their length. Meanwhile the spider has not merely been standing on its “toes,”—it has been firmly gripping the silken lines on the railings with its claws. Soon it feels the pull of the streaming threads, and when the tension is sufficient it lets go with all its claws simultaneously, vaults into the air and sails away. Sometimes a start is made prematurely and the insufficient buoyancy of the streamers causes the spider to descend almost at once, and a new start is made. [Illustration: Fig. 4. Young spider preparing for an aerial voyage.] This, then, is the habitual method by which new broods of spiders distribute themselves, especially the sedentary kinds which would otherwise soon become over crowded in the neighbourhood of the parent nest. And we really need not have sought out a railing at all except for its very great convenience of observation. The same thing is going on everywhere. It largely accounts for the astonishing carpet of silk that the dew reveals to us on lawns and meadows at such times of the year. Young spiders have been busy from early dawn crawling over the grass, climbing the higher blades, and setting sail, and the whole field is covered with their lines. Railings come in handy as furnishing an elevated starting point, but any shrub or bush will do, and young spiders have been seen setting sail from the parent web itself.