ANIMAL BEHAVIOR, WITH EXAMPLES 191 



the opening. She then spent a few moments inside her tube, 

 and when she again appeared, this time took from the ground 

 a second and a third burr, placing each to form a partial border. 

 From the interior of the tube she brought up sand pellets, 

 which she used to fill the intervening spaces between the burrs. 

 Satisfied now with this foundation of burrs, she walked over 

 from the opening to a grass stem, which she picked up and 

 carried back to the edge. Then letting down the fragment, 

 she turned her body about after getting within the tube, and 

 in this way attached it at the middle with multiple strands of 

 silk. Another grass stem was next used, which she laid crossing 

 the first on top of the now half-buried burrs. Then her atten- 

 tion was attracted to some weed stems which she seized in her 

 mandibles and disposed of in a similar manner, but alternating 

 with a silken sand pellet. In their turns she selected a piece 

 of red paper, which I had thrown in her way, and a straw, 

 and to these she added several more sand bundles. All of 

 these articles she utilized, one by one, with the same scrupulous 

 neatness. Similarly, a bit of white paper was also drawn to 

 the side and fastened, and lastly, another piece of blue paper, 

 the whole forming a curious embellishment to the little towering 

 castle which was now finished, and nearly an inch in height. 

 The colors in the paper seemed to be disregarded by the 

 spider in the use to which she put them. 



Young spiders, even down to the smallest, exhibit the same 

 inherent instincts for castle building possessed by the adults, 

 though their work may be of a more dainty character. Between 

 these extreme ages the nests may present the widest diversity 

 of material used in their construction. One scarcely can believe, 

 on parting the ragweeds aside, that the perfect little tower at 

 our feet, built almost entirely of stones, is the work of the young 

 artisan. Yet such is the case. As I observe the compact 

 little edifice, three-eighths of an inch high, made up of nine 

 little particles, I wonder where this instinctive versatility will 

 end. This masonry, cemented together with silk, is exquisitely 

 put up, every stone in the round house bearing out true propor- 

 tions even to the central opening which was only a little less 

 in diameter than the height. 



The time of year, as I have hinted, has its effect upon the 



