234 AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNINGWORK. 



quantities among the large snares of Nephila swung between forest trees 

 are sought by tlie birds who, in their too eager pursuit, strike upon the 

 stout surrounding lines and are arrested. He had encountered these birds, 

 particularly the beautiful Muscipeta Borbonica of Cuvier, entangled in 

 these mammoth snares. ^ 



Darwin speaiis of the Brazilian forests as having every path barricaded 

 with strong yellow webs of a species of Nephila similar to N. clavipes.^ 

 The late Prof. Orton uses precisely the same language of the spiders 

 in tlie forests of the Amazon, and adds that some build nests in the trees 

 and attack birds. ^ Prof. Wilder found that the orb of the Nephila 

 of our Southern Atlantic coast would easily sustain a light straw hat, 

 whose weight is certainly greater than that of a young bird. My own 

 experience with such webs in Texas is that they will sustain a weight 

 quite equal to that, although I never made such a test. It is said by 

 tourists that the woods of Southern California are barricaded in the same 

 way as those of Brazil and the Amazon, by the webs of Orlnveavers, so 

 that it is often difficult to pass through them. 



Two well authenticated cases of birds taken b}' a native spider have 

 come under my notice in the vicinity of Philadeljihia. A farmer belong- 

 ing to the Society of Friends, Mr. .Joseph Lownes, resident in 

 ArgK^e ^jjg vicinity of Morton, informed me that he once found a bird. 

 Catcher *^"^ °^ *^^^ smallest of our indigenous species of Kingster, en- 

 tangled in the snare of a spider, which I judged from the de- 

 scription to be Argiope co})hinaria. He watched for some time the move- 

 ments of the bird, and believing that the latter would be finally over- 

 come he benevolently released it from the web. 



Another case occurred on tlie grounds of the Philadelphia " Rabbit 

 Club," near Fairmount Park, and was related to me by David J. De 

 Haven, the custodian, lie saw a large Argiope cophinaria (as it appeared 

 evidently from his description) capture in her web a hummingbird. 

 He watched the process of swatliing the poor victim until it was com- 

 pletely wrapped around, when he slew the spider and rescued the bird, 

 too late, however, for it was quite dead. 



The above examples, which might be multiplied, show beyond ques- 

 tion that the strength and mechanical advantages of an orbweb are suffi- 

 cient to enable our large Orbweavers to capture small vertebrate animals. 

 Whether or not they feed vipon such captives one can only conjecture, 

 particularly in the case of our native fauna. Certainly in the last case 

 above cited the spider acted precisely as witli all victims taken for food; 

 but then, on the other liand, she might have done this and tlien have 

 cut the hummingbird out of her snare without feeding upon its blood. 



' Araneides des Isles de la Reunion, page xxi. 



' Voyages of Adventure and Beagle, Vol. III., page 41. 



' The Andes and Amazon, page .'504. 



