304 NATURAL HISTORY. 



feel themselves acted upon by a force sufficient for that 

 purpose. They may thus be seen mounting aloft from 

 the tops of twigs and blades of grass, from fences, etc. 



516. The architecture of Spiders has considerable va- 

 riety. That of the house Spider and that of the com- 

 mon geometric Spider are familiar to every one. That 

 of the labyrinthic Spider is very curious. Its nest may 

 be seen spread out a broad sheet on hedges, furze, low 

 bushes, and sometimes on the ground. "The middle 

 of this sheet," says Rennie, " which is of a close texture, 

 is swung, like a sailor's hammock, by silken ropes extend- 

 ed all around to the higher branches; but the whole 

 curves upward and backward, sloping downward to a 

 long funnel-shaped gallery which is nearly horizontal at 

 the entrance, but soon winds obliquely till it becomes 

 quite perpendicular. This curved gallery is about a 

 quarter of an inch in diameter, is much more closely 

 woven than the sheet part of the web, and sometimes 

 descends into a hole in the ground, though oftener into 

 a group of crowded twigs or a tuft of grass. Here 

 the Spider dwells secure, frequently resting with her 

 legs extended from the entrance of the gallery, ready 

 to spring out upon whatever insect may fall into her 

 sheet-net." 



517. There are some species of spiders that build their 

 nests of clay, which they knead into due shape, and 

 hence are called Mason Spiders. There is one of these 

 found in the West Indies. This Spider digs a hole ob- 

 liquely in the earth about three inches deep and one inch 

 in diameter, the walls of it being made of clay. This 

 cavity it lines with a thick web, which, when taken out, 

 resembles a leathern purse. This tapestried chamber 

 has a very singular door. It is made of about a dozen 

 layers of this same lining, closely united together, and 

 has a hinge of the same material. In Fig. 238 (p. 305) 

 is represented the nest of another Mason Spider found 

 in France, A being the nest shut, and B the nest open ; 



