158 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



better than to quote from Mr. Bates. " I was attracted by a movement of 

 the monster on a tree-trunk ; it was close beneath a deep crevice in the 

 tree, across which was spread a dense white web. The lower part of the 

 web'was broken, and two small birds, finches, were entangled in the pieces; 

 they were about the size of the English siskin, and I judged the two 

 fc0 be male and female. One of them was quite dead; the other lay under 

 the body of the spider, not quite dead, and was smeared with the filthy 

 Liquor or saliva exuded by +he monster. I drove away the spider and 



took the birds, but the second one soon died The hairs with which 



[these spiders] are clothed come off when touched, and cause a peculiar 

 and almost maddening irritation. The first specimen that I killed and 

 prepared was handled incautiously, and I suffered terribly for three or four 

 days afterwards. I think this is not owing to any poisonous quality resid- 

 ing in the hairs, but to their being short and hard, and thus getting into the 

 fine creases of the skin. Some Mygales are of immense size. One day I 

 saw the children belonging to an Indian family, who collected for me, with 

 one of these monsters secured by a cord round its waist, by which they 



were leading it about the house 

 as they would a dog." 



Other forms, structurally 

 much like the bird-catching 

 spider, are really interesting 

 in their habits. These are 

 the trap-door spiders, and Mr. 

 Moggridge has written a very 

 interesting book in which he 

 details the discoveries he made 

 about their habits. These forms 

 live in deep holes which they 

 excavate in the earth. To 

 prevent discovery, these holes 

 are closed with a trap-door 

 with a silken hinge, and which 

 can be tightly shut. On the 

 inner surface the door is silken, 

 but externally it is covered 

 with dirt and moss, so that 

 when it is closed one cannot 

 detect the difference between 

 it and the surrounding soil. When the animal is inside, he holds the door 

 with some of his legs, and with the others he holds the wall of the tube. 



Fig. 141. — Trap-door spider (My gale hentzii), natural size. 



