i«2 Notes. [voTxxxiii. 



conference only make one wish that one or two of the papers, 

 which are spoken of as being so good, had Ix-en printed, rather 

 than the disparaging remarks about the powers that be, and 

 the mistakes that have been made, which now occupy prom- 

 inent positions in the cohimns. A l)rief article on Victorian 

 Forests, by Mr. A. D. Hardy, F.L.S.. illustrated by a map 

 showing the forest areas and a tabular list of Victorian 

 eucalypts and their uses, grouped according to their general 

 forest appearance, will be useful to the ordinary reader. We 

 must confess to a feeling of disappointment in the nrunber. 

 The promise of a high-class journal has not been fulfilled ; its 

 appearance lacks dignity, and savours too much of the ordinary 

 newspaper. This, however, is somewhat redeemed by the 

 cover design, which is boldly executed in green and black. 



A Hermit Spider. — During the last month or two a web- 

 spinning, leaf-curling spider has been very much in evidence 

 in suburban gardens. The creature, which has a greyish, 

 hairless body with greenish-yellow markings on the abdomen 

 and dark, shining legs, has been identified for me by Mr. J. A. 

 Kershaw, F.E.S., as Phonognatha graeffei. From its habit of 

 using a dead leaf as a home and "look-out," it provides the 

 watcher with a most interesting subject. The way in which 

 the leaf is hauled up from the ground, when the web consists 

 of little more than the main cables and guy ropes, attached, 

 and curled into a shelter when in position, is highly instructive. 

 The leaf is often probably ten or twelve times the length of 

 the spider, and generally stiff, such as that of a sugar-gum 

 when dry. The chosen leaf, which is never broad, is usually 

 suspended with the stalk upwards : the upper opening of the 

 tube is partially closed by tension and partly by web, while 

 the lower opening gapes widely. Here the sjjider, at the 

 centre of its web, remains during the day, with just the ends 

 of its legs exposed, ready to dash out for any insect caught in 

 the web, when it is rapidly detached and conveyed to the 

 hiding-place. When the spider gets back to its retreat it 

 turns round and backs in like a flash, the insect being con- 

 sumed, as it were, on the doorstep. It is interesting to note 

 that sometimes an empty snail shell is used as a home. This 

 has occurred three times in my garden. The shells arc sus- 

 pended with the opening downwards, when the protruding 

 legs of the spider " at home " in a snail shell remind one of 

 a Hermit Crab, and I would suggest the name " Hermit 

 Spider " for the species if it has no other vernacular. As an 

 instance of the strength of the creature, I may say that one 

 snail shell has been raised to the height of nine feet in a web 

 among the twigs of a wattle. By accident I left one of these 

 spiders confined in a glass jar for nearly a fortnight, but it 



