THE SPIDER RA VIS HERS. 127 



the neighborhood before beginning to dig. Alighting near by 

 she left the spider lying on the ground while she ran to her nest 

 and kicked out a little more earth. Then seizing it by one leg 

 she dragged it, going backward herself, into the nest. She re- 

 mained hidden for about two minutes, then reappeared, and, 

 seeming to be in as gi-eat a hurry as ever, filled the hole with 

 'dirt. To disgTiise the spot and render it indistinguishable from 

 the rest of the field was her next care. Hither and thither she 

 rushed, now bringing little pellets of earth and placing them 

 above the nest, now sweeping away the loose dust which might 

 suggest the presence of the CfrcJie, and now tugging frantically 

 at a stone which she wanted to place over the hidden treasure, 

 but which was too deeply embedded in the earth to yield to her 

 efforts. She did her work faithfully although with such eager 

 haste that all was completed at the end of twenty minutes from 

 the time we saw her first. So well was the place hidden that it 

 was only by careful orientation that w^e could be certain of its 

 exact locality. 



Her task accomplished, away flew our little tornado as though 

 she were pursued by the avenging spirits of all the spiders that 

 she had murdered, although more probably she was off in quest 

 of another of those meek and helpless victims. 



"Now," we said, "we will trace out the nest and make a draw- 

 ing of it. We will take the spider home and note its condition 

 from day to day, watching, at the same time the development of 

 the lar^-a." 



Enjoying this little air-castle we began to excavate. Having 

 had experience with the nests of AtiimopliUa and Dlodontus, 

 and knowing that the task might not be so easy as it looked, we 

 went to w^ork with all possible care. It seemed however that 

 some magician's trick — some deception of the senses — had been 

 played upon us. AVe saw the spider interred, we at once dug up 

 the place and found nothing. Slowly and carefully w^e en- 

 larged our circle. We went down deeper until the opening was 

 large enough to Iiold a thoTi^ond spiders, — still nothing. Then 

 we tried another plan. Gathering all the earth that we had 



