42 FIRST LESSONS IN ZOOLOGY 



young spiders made tlieir appearance anil immediately 

 perched upon their mother, many on her back, some on 

 her head, and even on her legs. Siie carried them about 

 ■with her and fed them, and until they were older they 

 never left their mother for a moment." 



Fig. 25. — "Turret" or above-ground part of nest of turret-spider. (Natural 

 size; fr(jin specimen.) 



Homes of the backboned animals. — Among the fishes, 

 the lowest of the backboned animals, most species con- 

 tent themselves with the laying of many eggs in a situa- 

 tion best suited for their safe hatching. But some species 

 show interesting domestic habits. The female catfish 

 swims about with her brood much as a hen moves about 

 with her chickens. Some of the larger ocean catfish of the 

 tropics receive the eggs or the young within the mouth for 

 safety in time of danger. Certain sinifishcs care for their 

 young, keeping them together in still places in the brook. 

 They also make some traces of a nest, which the male 



