The Black-Bellied Tarantula 



ways light upon the proper building-materials, 

 or, lastly, because architectural talent is pos- 

 sibly declared only in individuals that have 

 reached the final stage, the period of per- 

 fection of their physical and intellectual 

 development. 



'One thing is certain, that I have had 

 numerous opportunities of seeing these shafts, 

 these outworks of the Tarantula's abode; they 

 remind me, on a larger scale, of the tubes 

 of certain Caddis-worms. The Arachnid had 

 more than one object in view in constructing 

 them : she shelters her retreat from the floods; 

 she protects it from the fall of foreign bodies 

 which, swept by the wind, might end by ob- 

 structing it; lastly, she uses it as a snare by 

 offering the Flies and other insects whereon 

 she feeds a projecting point to settle on. 

 Who shall tell us all the wiles employed by 

 this clever and daring huntress? 



'Let us now say something about my 

 rather diverting Tarantula-hunts. The best 

 season for them is the months of May and 

 June. The first time that I lighted on this 

 Spider's burrows and discovered that they 

 were inhabited by seeing her come to a point 

 on the first floor of her dwelling — the elbow 



45 



