ABOUT SPIDEKS AND THEIE WEBS. 



CHAPTER III. 



TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS. 



THE Bird spiders are, I believe, restricted to tropical 

 America, but in many parts of the world there 

 are spiders which burrow in the earth, hunt for their 

 prey after a similar fashion to the Bird spiders, and 

 bring it to their burrows when captured. These crea- 

 tures also line their burrows with silk, but are far 

 better architects than their larger kinsfolk, inasmuch as 

 they fit up their earthen dwellings with self-closing doors. 



The mode in which a Trap-door spider constructs its 

 house is as follows : 



Always choosing a sloping bank, the spider sinks a 

 burrow some five or six inches in depth, and about wide 

 enough to admit a man's forefinger. 



