TRAI^-DOOtl SPIDERS. 85 



chaffinch does on its nest. So perfectly is this done that to dis- 

 cover a trap-door is almost impossible. 



Strangers, when sitting on a bank, are often astonished at 

 seeing a circular piece of earth lifted near them, the jaws and legs 

 of a spider partly protruded, and quickly withdrawn when the 

 intruder is seen. So rapidly does the spider pass back again into 

 its burrow and shut the door after it, that the movement has been 

 aptly compared to that of a cuckoo in a clock. Even when the 

 eye has been thus directed to the exact spot, it is not easy to find 

 the door. If, however, it be found, and an attempt be made to 

 open it, a tolerably strong resistance will be experienced. This is 

 caused by the inhabitant, which holds firmly with its forelegs to 

 the door and hind legs to the lining of its web, and resists as long 

 as it can. So firmly does it retain its hold, that when the nest has 

 been pulled out of the soil and torn asunder, the spider has come 

 away with the upper portion, still holding the door against the foe. 

 The marks thus made by the spider's claws may frequently be 

 seen, especially in the doors of old nests, as shown in the accom- 

 panying figure. 



The second point of interest in the trap-door is the mode in 

 which it is fixed. The spider always chooses a sloping surface for 

 its burrow, and the hinge is always placed upon the highest point, 

 so that when the spider issues forth the door is self-acting and 

 shuts by its own weight. 



For our knowledge of the European trap-door spiders, Ave are 

 mainly indebted to J. T. Moggridge, in whose work * the various 

 species and their nests will be found very completely described 

 and figured. He has roughly classified the nests of these spiders 

 under two headings — namely, the "cork" nests, so called from 

 their tight-fitting, cork-like lids ; and the " wafer " nests, in which 

 the lid laps loosely over the opening, and has been compared to a 

 wafer. Amongst the European species, Nemesia Moggridgii 

 (named after Mr. Moggridge), found at Mentone, N. aemcntaria, 

 and some others, construct nests with " cork " doors. These cork 

 nests all consist of a simple silk-lined tube, with the plug-like door 

 at the top, but many of the wafer nests are more complex. 



The simplest form of wafer nest is that constructed by Neine- 



* '• Harvesling Ants and Trap-door Spideiij." ( L, Reeve <^ Co.) 



