MAR\-F,LS OF METAMORPHOSIS 



809 





SEE THE TRAPDOOR? THAT S THE ENTRANCE TO THE SPIDERS HOUSE 



The author breaks in a new assistant — at the age ul 15 months! Alter being pried out (opposite 

 picture), the adobe lump has been broken apart and the tube split free. Sometimes the clay bakes 

 almost as hard as concrete. Spiders excavate and mold their snug houses alter winter rains have 

 softened the earth. Circumstantial evidence gleaned from the nests pointed to two different assassins 

 that attacked the spiders in their lairs (pages SI 2 and 821). 



Here we are at last, on the top of the 

 world. Off to the south, half hidden by 

 the smoky haze, sprawls Los Angeles, with 

 the Pacific shimmering on the faraway hori- 

 zon. Miles to the east lies the high wall 

 of the San Bernardino Mountains, topped 

 by the snow-capped peak of Old Baldy in 

 the hazy distance. 



Look! Danny has found a trapdoor, and 

 marked it with a weighted scrap of paper. 

 To see it, close by the paper, you will need a 

 keen eye. It is about the size of a quarter, 

 but blends into the ground surface so per- 

 fectly that it is hard to spot. Danny has 

 become an expert. Sometimes he brings 

 along two or three of his pals, and they all 

 hunt trapdoors at a penny apiece, while I 

 dig furiously, trying to keep up (pages 808 

 and 82 7). ' 



INTO AN INSECT UNDERWORLD 



I wrecked several ordinary spades and 

 shovels before I found a nurseryman's 

 spade of tempered steel. The digging is 

 comparatively easy on this hill because the 

 adobe is mixed with shale and sand. For 



convenience in keeping my records, I give a 

 distinguishing name to each good hunting 

 ground we find. So we call this one 

 -Crumbly Hill." 



But the pure, sun-dried adobe is a dif- 

 ferent matter. One of the hardest spots 

 we ever found lies about four miles west 

 of here. "Concrete Hill" would have been 

 an appropriate name. 



Adobe is a compact clay, and is very 

 similar to what is called "blue gumbo" in 

 the East. Even a pick fails to make much 

 of an impression after it has been baked 

 hard by the summer sun, and it is no 

 wonder that Mexican houses built of sun- 

 dried adobe brick often outlast several gen- 

 erations of owners. 



At first I was puzzled by the fact that 

 the trapdoor spiders seemed to prefer the 

 hardest spots, but I soon learned their 

 secret. They never attempt to dig in the dry 

 adobe, but wait until it has been softened 

 by the winter rains. Then it is easily dug 

 and of just the right consistency for model- 

 ing the walls of their tubular nests. 



But Crumbly Hill is not too hard, even 



