SPIDERS AND THEIR WAYS. 805 



described inhabits Corsica, Sardinia, and the parts of Italy near 

 Mentone. Its nest, usually built in the light red clay of the re- 

 gion, is a beautiful construction, from four to eight inches deep, 

 and about five eighths of an inch in diameter. Like the others, 

 these nests are usually grouped in considerable numbers, very 

 near to one another ; sometimes, indeed, they are contiguous. The 

 first admirers of the art of these creatures, the " pioneer ctenizas " — 

 the Italian Pietro Rossi, and the Frenchman Victor Audouin — 

 were struck with this association, so like that of villages ; for we 

 do not usually think of spiders without conceiving them as soli- 

 tary and isolated. But it is evident that these trap-door spiders 

 do not hold that antipathy toward their fellows by race which is 

 the rule in the Arachnidan world. While everywhere else, with 

 this strange race, the association of males and females is only for 

 an instant, and is accomplished by a surprise, the manners of the 

 ctenizas are more gentle and like those of birds. The chief differ- 

 ence is that, while the bird builds a nest for its family, the cteniza 

 has a permanent home in which to accommodate its offspring. 

 The ctenizas behave as if they knew what was to occur. At the 

 time of reproduction, a male is admitted to the residence of the 

 female, and becomes a guest there. The eggs having been laid, 

 the couple appear to watch together over the deposit with the best 

 understanding, and an equal solicitude. But when the young have 

 become large enough, like young birds, they leave the nest and 

 assume their independence without any further concern for pa- 

 rental cares, and the father and mother separate, to resume the 

 freedom of isolation. And when we observe a male in the cell of 

 a female, we are inclined to think that many doors are open to 

 him ; for females are numerous and males are rare. 



Mr. Traherne Moggridge undertook to obtain a deeper view of 

 the life- secrets of the mason or trap-door spiders. As they work 

 at night, it was not easy to surprise them when active in their 

 labors ; but much may be accomplished in the way of discovery 

 by the exercise of patience and sagacity. Mr. Moggridge found it 

 a good plan to follow the spider in building a new abode when its 

 old one had been demolished. It executes its task speedily, with- 

 out neglecting any detail, as if in obedience to a perfect method. 

 The favorite places are the slopes of terraces and the banks of 

 rivers ; choosing a time, if it can, when the ground is moist, it 

 clears away the earth with its claw-rake, and marks out the cylindri- 

 cal hole. If there are any places in the walls that lack cohesion 

 and where a slide may be anticipated, the animal, as if it were a 

 graduate from a school of engineers, consolidates the parts with 

 silk and weaves in successive layers the pretty satiny texture with 

 which its house is to be adorned. It pursues its task in this way 

 till the determined depth is reached. The tube having been con- 



