MATERNAL INSTINCTS: MOTHERHOOD. 179 



taken them on the highest railing of the . dome of St. Peter's in Rome ; 

 have seen their round webs swinging against the cliffs of Mosquito Mount- 

 ain Pass in Colorado, more than ten thousand feet high ; have found them 

 upon the mountains of Scotland ; and captured the British Epeira umbra- 

 tica from snares spun against the basaltic columns of Fingal's Cave. 



Their fixed positions are, of course, determined by their ability to 

 obtain food therefrom ; and, as their food is insects, the limit of insect 

 life must also be the limit of spider life. For, although spiders 

 , . ., are frequently at the mercy of the winds and are carried great 

 distances when they are young, during the aeronautic stage, they 

 cannot long sustain themselves and propagate their species if they chance 

 to fall upon positions where it is difficult or impossible to obtain generous 

 supplies of insect food. 



In seeking a spot upon which to place their cocoons, most Orb weavers 



go a little distance from their snares and construct the cocoon against the 



outer surface of a bush or tree, rock or wall, or cover it up 



c, ,. within a leaf. As a rule, the disposition to find a secluded spot 

 Secretmg. . • ,. i , • ,^ ■, ■ 



IS quite manifest, but there are many exceptions. Other species 



deposit their cocoons within their webs, stringing them along one of the 



radii of the orb, as in the case of Uloborus, Epeira caudata, and Epeira 



bifurca; or suspend them within a maze of crossed lines which overhangs 



the orb, as in the case of the Labyrinth spider. Others, again, as with 



Argiope, will frequently swing their cocoons within a specially prepared 



mass of crossed and netted lines, which are hung to branches or boughs, 



leaves, or blades of grass. 



What is said of Orbweavers as to cocooning site is substantially true 

 of the other Tribes, with, of course, such variations as are required by 

 essential differences of habit and structure. For example, those Seden- 

 tary spiders, as the Lineweavers, which suspend their snares in positions 

 quite like those of Orbweavers, also follow closely that Tribe in the gen- 

 eral principle of selection for cocoon sites. In other words, they hang 

 their cocoons in some part of their snare, or somewhere near, hidden be- 

 neath a convenient cover, or in a neighboring retreat. 



So also many Tubeweavers, and the Tunnelweavers even more persist- 

 ently, attach their cocoons to some part of their web, or weave one of their 

 cliaracteristic tubes around the egg case when it is once spun. In these 

 cases the cocoon site is pretty sure to be identical with the dwelling place 

 and snare. 



Among Wanderers the home site has less influence upon the cocoon 



site. As these animals pursue their prey over a more or less extended 



range of territory, the site of the cocoon is dependent on the 



VVan er- ^^^^^^ where the hour of maternity may overtake the females. 



Wherever they happen to be, the Saltigrades and Laterigrades 



will spin a tubular tent, enclose within it their cocoon, and there remain 



