54 The Structure and Habits of Spiders. 



They lay their eggs in the nest ; and the young 

 come out, and spin little nests of their own, as 

 soon as they are big enough. Their hairs keep 

 the skin from becoming wet as they go through 

 the water ; and in the nest they are as dry as if 

 it were under a stone, or in a hole on land. 



COBWEBS. 



The simple nests and tubes that have been 

 described are made by spiders, most of which 

 spin no other webs. The larger and better 

 known cobwebs for catching insects are made 

 by comparatively few species. On damp morn- 

 ings in summer the grass-fields are seen to be 

 half covered with flat webs, from an inch or two 

 to a foot in diameter, which are considered by 

 the weatherwise as signs of a fair day. These 

 webs remain on the grass all the time, but only 

 become visible from a distance when the dew 

 settles on them. Fig. 24 is a diagram of one of 

 these nests, supposed, for convenience, to be 

 spun between pegs instead of grass. The flat 

 part consists of strong threads from peg to peg, 

 crossed by finer ones, which the spider spins 

 with the long hind-spinnerets, Fig. 20, swing- 



