764 Home Nature-Study Course. 



(b) Was it in a web formed of a sheet of silk with a funnel- 

 shaped tube at one side of it? If this web was on the grass, 

 then it is the grass spider. If it was found in some dark corner 

 of cellar or shed it is the cellar funnel-spider. 



(c) Was it found under a delicate dome of silk that looks in 

 the sunlight like half of a large soap bubble hung between 

 branches or in weeds along a forest path? If so, it is the filmy 

 dome spider. 



(d) Was it found in a web, wheel-shaped, with a delicate, 

 spiral line of silk laid upon the " spokes " ? If so, it is an orb 

 weaver. 



(6). If the spider was not found in a web: 



(a) Is it large and hairy and was it found on the ground 

 under sticks or stones? If so, it is a runnitig spider. 



(b) Is it short and stout, black, or pepper-and-salt color, 

 found upon window pane, tree trunk or stone and likely to 

 make a quick jump if a pencil point is placed near it? If so, it 

 is a jumping spider. 



(c) Is it shaped a little like a crab and can it move backward 

 or sidewise as easily as forward? And was it found in a flower? 

 If so, it is a crab spider. 



Lesson XVII. 



COBWEBS. 



Purpose. — To learn to observe more carefully the form and use of 

 these common webs. 



Material. — A cobweb in the corner of a room, preferably with a spider 

 in it. 



Observations for the Pupils. — (i). Is the web in a sheet or is it a 

 mass of crisscrossed, tangled threads? 



(2). How are the threads held in place? 



(3). What is the purpose of this web? 



(4). Where does the spider stay. 



(5). If a fly gets tangled in a web, describe the action of the spider. 



(6). Does the spider eat all of the fly? 



(7). What does it do with the remains? 



(8), If the spider is frightened, what does it do? 



