breeds through the eastern United States 

 from Florida and the Gulf of Mexico 

 northward to Newfoundland and Mani- 

 toba. During its migrations it is not 

 uncommon in the larger parks of cities 

 and in suburban retreats, but for a nest- 

 ing site it prefers, but does not always 

 select, the wooded margins of streams. 

 In the quiet seclusion of such retreats it 

 builds its nest in the trees, from ten to 

 forty feet above the ground. The nests 

 of this species are the most beautiful of 

 those of all the vireos. While the mate- 

 rials used in their construction are not 

 unlike those used by the other vireos, 

 the nests are somewhat larger. They are 

 frequently entirely covered, in a most 

 artistic manner, with lichens and mosses 

 which are fastened to the outer surface of 

 the nest with the webs of spiders and 



threads from the silky covering of the 

 cocoons of silk-weaving moths. Thus 

 the nests resemble bunches of moss, pen- 

 sile from the forked branches of the trees. 

 The nests are constructed by interweav- 

 ing various fine fibers, both plant and 

 animal hairs, grasses, and sometimes 

 pieces of string and shreds of cloth. The 

 nests are certainly among the most beau- 

 tiful, if indeed they are not the finest, 

 specimens of bird architecture to be 

 found in temperate America. They are 

 pensile cradles for the young birds. The 

 male assists his mate in the performance 

 of the duties of incubation, but he has 

 the unfortunate habit of singing while 

 on the nest — a habit which shows a 

 happy disposition but is opposed to the 

 best interests of the birds. 



THE TRAP DOOR SPIDER. 



The keenest observers of nature, how- 

 ever far they may have roamed and how- 

 ever closely they may have watched the 

 various phases of animal life, have found 

 nothing therein more mysteriously won- 

 derful than the Trap Door Spider of the 

 genus Ctenizae and the extensive family 

 Araneidae. 



The spider is often incorrectly called 

 an insect, but, in unscientific phrase, it 

 is a crab of the tarantula variety. The 

 Trap Door species is widely distributed, 

 but rarely found in the eastern or north- 

 ern States. It is plentiful in the south- 

 western States and on the southern Pacific 

 slope, and numerous on the Island of 

 Jamaica, and in these regions has been 

 carefully investigated by naturalists and 

 other observers. 



Its habitations, however, are its chief 

 revealers of its skill. These are built on 

 the same general plan, but differ in 

 details according to locality. Their main 

 features are a cylindrical well, finished 

 with a coating which is composed of a 

 kind of silky fiber, and a trap door cover- 

 ing, for protection against enemies and 

 the elements. 



The spider like the rest of the crab 

 families, has no neck, and in this respect 

 differs from all the insects. The Trap 

 Door Spider has only two eyes, while 

 some other species have as many as eight, 

 which is the limit of visual equipment of 

 this extended genus. It is in the insect 

 families, not among the crabs, that we 

 often find in a single specimen too many 

 eyes to count in a hurry. The drone bee, 

 for instance, has twenty-five thousand 

 eyes, the queen bee twenty thousand, and 

 the neuter or working bee twelve thou- 

 sand. Why so many when wise man, 

 often wishing to look up and down and 

 towards every point of the compass at 

 once, has but two? who can tell? His 

 advantages over insects and crabs are 

 many, and sometimes he ruthlessly slays 

 them by thousands without harm to him- 

 self, but in the matter of eyes, on which 

 he is largely dependent for knowledge, 

 the bee that gathers his honey, if it could 

 laugh might laugh him to scorn. And 

 we shall presently see that the Trap Door 

 Spider, with its two eyes and minute 

 brain, can do mechanical things which he, 

 with his best ingenuity and innumerable 



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