bits of grass, straw and stalks of weeds, 

 intermingled with particles of earth, and 

 lined with a silken web. It was not more 

 than two inches in height and encircled 

 an opening in the ground an inch in 

 diameter and which sunk down out of 

 sight. 



"How glad I am that I happened to 

 have this bit of cotton and a knife in my 

 pocket," remarked Morris. "I'm going 

 to preserve this little tower for my cab- 

 inet." He filled the little turret with a 

 tuft of cotton to keep it from breaking 

 when handled and carefully loosened it 

 from the ground. 



"Who made this cunning little nest?" 

 inquired Jack. 



"A turret spider dug the hole which 

 extends downward about ten inches and 

 she then built this little turret around it. 

 She is a large spider with a body about 

 an inch in length and she has long legs." 



"What is the object of this cave-nest?" 



"It protects the spider from her ene- 

 mies and the turret serves as a watch- 

 tower. She often crouches on the sum- 

 mit and watches for grasshoppers and 

 other insects which form her prey. If 

 any approaching object alarms her, she 

 quickly retreats to her cavern home. She 

 carries her eggs about with her in a sac 

 about as large as a grape. The sac is 

 lashed to her body and contains a hun- 

 dred or more eggs. When the eggs are 

 hatched, the tiny baby spiders climb on 

 the mother's back and head and live 

 there until they are three or four weeks 

 old. During this period the mother pre- 

 sents the appearance of a horrible, hairy 

 nondescript monster. At the expiration 

 of the four weeks these small creatures 

 find homes for a time on the trees, shrubs 

 and weeds. When old enough, they, too, 

 dig caves and build turrets for them- 

 selves." 



"You did not tell me anything about 

 the young of the meadow spider," Jack 

 remarked as they resumed their walk. 



Morris paused with an exclamation of 

 pleasure as he pointed to a small pear- 

 shaped object that hung among the 

 grasses at their feet. "That," he said, 

 "is the egg-sac, or, as it is sometimes 

 called, the cocoon of the meadow spider. 

 The outside of the cocoon is tough and 

 glazed. Not a particle of rain or snow 

 can enter it. The inside is soft and 



silken and contains several hundred eggs. 

 It will remain here all winter and next 

 spring the young spiders will hatch and 

 immediately begin life for themselves. 

 Spiders do not pass through the trans- 

 formations that the higher orders of in- 

 sects do. You perhaps know that there 

 are some that begin life as grubs and 

 after a while change into pupae and 

 finally become beetles. Others begin as 

 caterpillars and end their existence as 

 beautiful butterflies. But a spider is a 

 spider from the beginning to the end of 

 its days. However, it does change its 

 coat several times before it attains its 

 growth. Really, my spider friends seem 

 to be exerting themselves for your espe- 

 cial benefit today. Look at this fence 

 and see these curious little spiders with 

 long silken filaments attached to their 

 bodies. They are known as the balloon- 

 ing or flying spiders." 



While the boys were intently gazing 

 at them, the little creatures began to rise 

 in the air and soon after disappeared 

 from sight. 



"Who ever heard of flying spiders be- 

 fore?" laughed Jack. 



"These gossamer threads which they 

 spin enable them to fly," replied his 

 friend. "They are so bouyant that they 

 overcome the weight of the spider and 

 enable it to rise and float upon the 

 breeze. By gradually drawing in the 

 floating threads until they are gathered 

 into a tiny pellet they are enabled to 

 descend. Sometimes a spider builds a 

 bridge across a stream. She takes her 

 station on a leaf or twig and emits a 

 long thread which the wind carries 

 across and entangles on some object on 

 the opposite bank. The spider then 

 draws her thread tight and runs across 

 it, spinning another thread as she travels, 

 which unites with the first and strength- 

 ens it. She makes several trips back and 

 forth, adding a new cord each time, until 

 she is sure her cable is strong enough to 

 serve her purpose. A second foundation 

 cable is then stretched in a similar way 

 and the skillful little architect weaves her 

 web between the two. The water-spider 

 spins a cell or nest about the size of an 

 acorn, which attaches itself to the water 

 plants underneath the surface of the 

 water. When first woven the nest is 

 simply a flat empty sac with the mouth 



