584 



HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



other, very much as children in the streets build their oyster-shell 

 grottoes. The labor must have been considerable, even if the 

 spider had nothing to do but to arrange and fasten together 

 pieces of leaves which had already been selected. 



..;.:,@ %mm 



Tufted Spider. 



Spherical Spider Neats. 



The large, oval, cocoon-like nests which are seen in the ac- 

 companying illustration are made by the Tufted Spider of the 

 West Indies, a creature which derives its name from the remark- 

 able tufts of stiff, bristle-like hairs which decorate the limbs. A 

 very fine specimen of this remarkable Spider is now before me, 

 having been taken out of its bottle with extreme difficulty, owing 

 to the great length of the limbs, and the weight of the prolonged 

 abdomen. 



The length of the body is one inch and a half, of which meas- 

 urement the abdomen alone occupies two thirds. The average 

 circumference of the abdomen is five sixths of an inch ; and, as it 



