NOTES AND 
ESSERE a 
GARDEN SPIDER AND NEST. 
SPIDERS would appear to be creatures not 
well adapted for taming ; never- 
theless the writer knows of 
an instance where fauly suc- 
cessful results were obtained by an attempt 
to gain the confidence and affections of a 
member of this group; “Mrs. Spider,” 
it is said, answering to the call of her 
master. The true, or web-making, spiders, of 
which the ordinary garden, or cross, spider 
is in this country one of the most familiar 
examples, bring themselves most promi- 
nently into notice by the structures from 
which they take their name. In addition to 
these, the females, however, construct nests 
in which are deposited the eggs; the nests 
of the common house-spider taking the form 
of small cocoons of silky material, frequently 
placed in the corners of neglected rooms or 
outhouses. The nest of the garden spider 
is shown in the photograph. Spiders of 
different species display marked variability 
in the amount of attention they bestow on 
their nests and offspring. “The garden 
spider, which, by the way, generally suspends 
its nursery on or near the web, leaves its 
young to shift for themselves. Certain 
other species, on the contrary, remain for a 
certain period on guard in the neighbour- 
hood of the nest, and look after the young 
when hatched. The fineness and at the same 
Garden Spider 
and Nest. 
COMMENTS. 
time the strength of spider-silk is familiar 
to all; but it is probably less well known 
that a few years ago an establishment 
was formed in France for the purpose of 
obtaining this silk in quantities sufficient 
for commercial use. Large numbers of 
spiders were kept, and their silk worked 
off from time to time on reels. For a 
time, at any rate, the experiment was 
stated to be a success; but we have not 
heard lately of the progress of the new 
venture. SE 
“A FEw days ago,’ writes Mr. Herbert 
Lazenby, “whilst walking in 
the country I heard the squeak 
of a mouse, which appeared to 
come from under some loose grass near to my 
feet. I carefully removed the grass, and found 
a nest of the Field-Mouse with four young 
ones, which I photographed for the readers 
of AnrmMAL Lire. ‘The young mice appeared 
to be only a day or two old, and were very 
funny little animals with perfectly smooth 
skins. ‘The nest was well made of fine grass, 
and the young ones appeared quite snug.” 
Nest of Young 
Field= Mice. 
NEST OF YOUNG FIELD-MICE. 
314 
