AND THEIR NESTS. 87 



tube is curved while the branch is vertical, and there is never an 

 obtuse cavity half-way down. 



The nest of a trap-door spider (Cteniza nidulans), found in 

 Jamaica, bears a curious resemblance to a very small yellow 

 stocking, and the likeness is increased by the fact that in most 

 cases the spider does not content itself with a single tube, but 

 makes the last inch or two of the end at an angle just like that of 

 a stocking-foot. The reason for choosing this form is rather 

 doubtful. At one time it was thought that the spider altered the 

 course of the burrow in consequence of coming across some 

 obstacle, such as a jDcbble or root ; but as the bend invariably 

 occurs at the same place, it is evidently intentional and not 

 accidental. This nest appears to be of the " cork " type. 



In the British Museum there is a remarkable example of a 

 burrow with two trap-doors — one in the usual place at the entrance 

 and the other an inch or two below it. The reason for this dupli- 

 cate door was easily discovered. The nest had been made in 

 cultivated ground. Earth had been thrown over the mouth of the 

 burrow and buried it. The inmate had therefore burrowed 

 upwards until it had made its way into the open air and had then 

 constructed a second door. 



This nest is essentially different from the double-door nests 

 above described, the inner door opening outwards instead of 

 inwards, and having exactly the same structure as the outer door. 



It must be remembered that only the female spiders live in 

 these nests, the males being very rarely found. The young spider, 

 after quitting the nest of its mother, builds an exact copy of it in 

 miniature, and as it grows gradually enlarges its nest. In the 

 wafer-doors the layers of silk and earth, thus added, are visible, 

 but are better seen from the cork doors^ and in these they may 

 often be separated. 



If the top part of the tube, with the lid, be removed, it will be 

 found, on returning to the same spot in a day or two, that the 

 spider has furnished a new door to the tube. The spiders are 

 nocturnal in their habits, frequently going out at night in search of 

 prey. It is stated that the Californian "cork" spider {Cteniza 

 Cali/ornica) fastens its door open with a silken thread before 

 leaving its nest, the door being so difficult to open from the 



