240 Rev. O. P. Cambridge on new 



before me, and I therefore hesitate to speak confidently on the 

 point. 



At present I conclude as certainly synonymic A. Sulzeri, 

 Bl. ; A. ptceus, Sim., and A. a nachor eta, Auss. Chiefly on 

 M. Simon's authority I conclude these to be A. piceus, Sulz. 

 There will then remain A. picevs, Thor., and my English ex- 

 ample, found by Mr. Beck, and which I have [post, p. 242) 

 described under the name of A. Beckii, to be determined, as to 

 their identity or the contrary, at some future time, when a 

 comparison of typical examples may be had. 



Of A.piceus, Sim. (A. Sulzeri, Bl.), the only males yet 

 recorded as British are the one figured and described by Mr. 

 Blackwall in ' Spid. of Great Brit, and Irel.' and one other, 

 found by myself in the same locality where the first was 

 obtained; females appear to be frequent in one locality near 

 Ventnor in the Isle of Wight. Mr. Pearson has kindly sent 

 me from thence some of the tubular nests as well as the 

 spiders themselves ; among the nests is one with a short sac- 

 like enlargement or branch near the upper end, opening into 

 the main tube. This enlargement seems to bear some analogy 

 to the branches in the tubes of some species of Nemesia (de- 

 scribed and figured by the late Mr. J. T. Moggridge in his 

 interesting book on Trapdoor Spiders) ; it is, however, per- 

 haps only an accidental occurrence. At my suggestion Mr. 

 Pearson most kindly dug out several nests with great care, 

 noting their form and length and any other point that appeared 

 likely to be of interest or importance. It is from this source 

 that the following details have been obtained. 



The nests are generally found in those parts of the Down 

 where the grass is longer than usual and not so matted about 

 the roots. A favourite position is the side of an overhanging 

 or projecting bit of turf, bare of vegetation but covered by the 

 overhanging grass. The exterior portion of the tube is not, 

 usually, more than from an inch to an inch and a half in 

 length, the subterranean part being much longer, about two 

 thirds or three fourths of the whole. The protruding portion is 

 in general partially inflated, sometimes erect, sometimes pros- 

 trate, the part nearest the ground being then secured to the 

 earth by the small fibres of the roots of neighbouring grasses. 

 With regard to the aperture, many nests have the envelope of 

 very slight and fragile texture at the summit, so that it is often 

 torn and rent ; but in the more perfect specimens no trace of 

 an opening has hitherto been discovered. A nest perfect and 

 apparently imperforate from top to bottom, and containing the 

 spider inside it, was buried in a large box of earth : sub- 

 sequently the tube was observed with a wide open mouth, 



