NESTING HABITS AND PROTECTIVE ARCHITECTURE. 



291 



Two of the above colony had estabhshed nests in tufts of a parasitic 

 moss fastened upon dead Hnibs. One of these was very pretty and ingen- 

 ious. The moss grew in a bunch about the size of a hickory 



nut; this was pierced at the top, and the filaments 

 th^V^ pushed aside sufficiently to allow an interior cavity 



large enough to house a spider. An oval door or 

 opening was formed near the top by bending and binding 

 back the fibres of the plant. A secure and tasteful retreat 

 was thus obtained at the only really available spot in the 

 vicinity of the snare. (Fig. 260.) 



When the Furrow spider weaves her orb upon the ex- 

 posed surfaces of human habitations, as the cornices of porch- fi^;. 264. Funnel 

 es, outhouses, etc., her nest takes a form quite different from shaped nest of 



' ' ' ^ . . Epeira strix. 



any above described. A tube of stiff, silken fibre is spun against 



the surface, to which it is lashed at all sides. This cylinder is 

 Tubular ,^|^q^^^ j^^^ jj-^^^]^ l^j-^g ^n^l lialf an inch thick, and at the end 



toward the orb has a circular opening about a quarter of an 

 inch in diameter. (See Fig. 2G0.) The stiff texture of this nest appears 

 to be necessary to make the walls self supporting, inasmuch as there are 



no supports like the twigs and leaves 

 found at hand in arboreal sites. Moreover, 

 the open position of the domicile exposes 

 the spider very freely to the assaults of 

 the mud daubers who frequent such lo- 

 calities, to birds, and other enemies, so 

 that a canvas is needed of tougher text- 

 ure than that required in sheltered sites. 

 Nevertheless, it may be remarked that Strix will often 

 spin a quite close tube even within a rolled leaf of 

 two or three thicknesses. 



In this summary of the nest architecture of the 

 Furrow spider it is manifest that while there is a gen- 

 eral regard to protection of the spider's person, there 

 is a modification over quite a wide degree of 

 variation in the form of the protective nest. 

 Further, that this modification appears to be 

 regulated, more or less, by the accidental en- 

 vironment of the domicile, and in such wise as to show no small 

 degree of intelligence in adapting the ordinary spinning habit to various 

 circumstances, and to economizing labor and material. 



-4 



Fig. 265. Shelter tent of Epeira strix. 



Intent 

 gent 

 Adap- 

 tation 



Fig. 266. Tent in the 

 moss. E. strix. 



III. 



One of the most interesting sights in the way of spinning industry 

 which it has been my privilege to see was observed upon a rocky hillside 



