414 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 
not yet ascertained, often try to force their way in. On 
three occasions during a single afternoon I saw a little 
male sit tightly in the doorway when strange females 
tried to enter his burrow. One persisted in her attempts 
for five minutes, but he was immovable. Another at- 
tempt was made when his wife was within, so there may 
have been reason for his behavior. 
The males of this species are faithful to their task, and 
leave their post only for good reasons. When one at- 
tempts to get one of them out, he stealthily walks back 
deep into the burrow. On one occasion, when a male was 
busy chasing away a rival, I quickly plugged the hole 
with cotton; when he returned he could not back down, 
so I took him in a test-tube to make sure of his identity. 
After ten minutes I released him, whereupon he went di- 
rect home and crawled deep down into the burrow, and 
for fear would not show his face. Even the returning fe- 
male had great difficulty in arousing him. She flew back 
and forth before the burrow, then flew away to other 
holes and attempted to enter (is it possible that the face 
of her mate is one of the ‘‘landmarks”’ by which she iden- 
tifies her own home?), then finally returned to her own, 
and by vigorous flapping of her wings at length aroused 
him to come out so she could enter with her spider. Even 
after she left, for many hours, the terrified little male 
kept ’way down in his retreat, seldom even putting his 
face to the doorway. 
I have always had a great desire to see the moving day 
performance, when the provisioning is completed and the 
nest must be closed up and left. Does the male hover 
near while the female plugs up the burrow, or does he 
scout about for a new nesting-place or a new mate? Do 
both leave together, or does the female carry her partner 
on her back, or do they behave like certain birds which, 
