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happened to be away, but in such cases 

 the rightful owner, on his return, quickly 

 ejected the intruder. We often amused 

 ourselves, while we were watching the 

 nests, by approaching the little male, as 

 he stood in his doorway, with a blade of 

 grass. He always attacked it valiantly, 

 and sometimes grasped it so tightly in his 

 mandibles that he could be drawn out of 

 the nest with it. 



**When the female returns to the nest 

 with a spider the male flies out to make 

 way for her, and then as she goes in he 

 alights on her back and enters with her. 

 When she comes out again she brings 

 him with her, but he at once re-enters, 

 and then, after a moment, comes out 

 and backs in, so that he faces outward as 

 before. 



"In one instance, with mhrocinctum, 

 when the work of storing the nest had 

 been delayed by rainy weather, we saw 

 the male assisting by taking the spiders 



