322 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



and about forty or fifty in number, she closes the mouth of the 

 cocoon and proceeds to daub it all over with mud. The moist- 

 ened earth clings tightly to the silken cocoon, and disguises it so 

 effectually that no one who had not seen it before that operation 

 could conceive how beautiful it had once been. The muddy 

 cover certainly makes the cocoon less visible, and may probably 

 have another effect, that of protecting the inclosed eggs and young 

 from the attacks of insects that feed upon spiders. Several oth- 

 er species have the habit of daubing their beautiful cocoons with 

 mud. 



This species is plentiful in Bostal Common and Bexley Heath 

 in Kent, the profuse growth of gorse being very suitable to its 

 mode of life, and I have several specimens of their nests taken 

 from Shooter's Hill. June is the best month for them, as they 

 may be found both before and after the mud has been applied. 



An allied species, Agelena labyrinthica, is equally plentiful in 

 similar localities, where its curious webs may be seen stretched in 

 horizontal sheets over the gorse, and having attached to each web 

 a cylindrical tube, at the end of which sits the spider itself. 

 Heath and common grass are also frequented by this spider. 



Besides the net or web in which it lives, and by means of 

 which it catches prey, it makes a beautiful cocoon in which the 

 eggs are placed. Externally the cocoon looks like a simple silk- 

 en bag, perfectly white in color, and, except in size, somewhat re- 

 sembling that of the preceding species. It is only when quite 

 freshly made that the white hue of the cocoon is visible ; for, aft- 

 er its completion, it is covered with scraps of dry leaves, bark, 

 earth, and other substances. If, however, this cocoon be opened, 

 it is found to contain at least another cocoon within, and often 

 comprises two, of a saucer-like shape, and made also of white silk. 

 These inner cocoons are nearly half an inch in diameter, and con- 

 tain a very variable quantity of pale yellow spherical eggs, some- 

 times fifty in number, but often exceeding a hundred. The inner 

 cocoons are firmly tied by strong lines to the interior of the large 

 sac in which they are inclosed. 



