142 ARACHNIDANS. 



spiders convert the delicate threads thus produced. Some con- 

 struct silken tubes or cells in which to conceal themselves, and 

 from this retreat they issue to hunt for prey in the vicinity of 

 their abode. Others throw their filaments about at random, ap- 

 parently to entangle passing insects. Many make nets composed 

 of regular meshes, and spread them in favourable situations to 

 entrap their victims ; while some species, enveloping their eggs 

 in bags of curious construction, carry them about attached to 

 their bodies, and defend them with the utmost courage and per- 

 tinacity. Even in water these webs are turned to many singular 

 uses ; and ropes, nets, and even diving-bells are at the disposal 

 of aquatic species furnished with this extraordinary spinning 

 machinery. 



Spiders are divided into the following families, each of which 

 will require our notice : 



The Mouse Spiders (My gale}* In these the eyes are always placed at 

 the anterior margin of the cephalo-thorax, and generally close together. Their 

 palpi and their feet are very robust. They are generally furnished with four 

 spinnarets, with which they fabricate silken tubes, that serve for their habita- 

 tions ; they are sometimes found under stones or under the bark of trees, or 

 hidden between leaves tied together. 



To this group belongs the celebrated Bird. Spider (My gale avicularia), the body 

 of which is upwards of an inch and a half in length. It manufactures its tube of a 

 tissue so strong and dense, that it resembles white muslin, and carries its eggs in a 

 cocoon of the same material as large as a walnut. That these formidable creatures are 

 able to kill and live upon birds, as their name indicates, has been disputed. The ques- 

 tion has now, however, been set at rest. 



Mr. H. W. Bates, who for many years had an opportunity of observing their habits 

 on the Amazon, writes as follows : "In the month of June, 1849, in the neighbourhood 

 of Cameta, I was attracted by a curious movement of the large grey-brown Mygale on 

 the trunk of a large tree. It was close beneath a crevice or deep chunk in the tree, 

 across which this species weave a dense web. In the present instance, the lower part 

 of the web was broken, and two pretty little finches were entangled in its folds : one 

 of them was quite dead, but secured in the broken web ; the other was under the body 

 of the spider, not quite dead, and was covered in part with the filthy saliva of the 

 monster. As I was returning from a day's excursion at the time, with my boxes full 

 of valuable and delicate insects, and six miles from my house, 1 could not have brought 

 the specimens home even if I had wished, which I did not, as the species was very 

 common and easily procured. On the extensive plains of Santarem there are hundreds 

 of their broad slanting burrows. These localities are almost destitute of insects, but 

 they swarm with small lizards and birds, upon which the Mygale seems to feed." 



The Mason Spiders (Mygale cementarid] excavate for themselves subterranean 

 caverns wherein these marauders lurk, secure from detection even by the most watch- 

 ful foe ; nor could any robber's den that ever existed in the wild regions of romance 

 boast more sure concealment from pursuit or immunity from observation. The con- 

 struction of these singular caverns has long excited the admiration of the naturalist. A 

 deep pit is first dug by the spicier, often to the depth of one or two feet, which, being 

 carefully lined throughout with silken tapestry, affords a warm and ample lodging. The 



* fj.vyaX-'ij, mygale, a field- mouse.. 



