SPIDERS AND WASPS. 79 



Chapter V. 



SPIDERS AND WASPS. 



I sometimes think the more I limit myself to a small 

 area, the more novelties and discoveries I make in nat- 

 ural history. My observations for the past four sum- 

 mers have been almost wholly confined to an acre of 

 ground in the heart of a noisy town. A bit of natural 

 woodland occupies about a quarter of the acre, and here 

 I have made several discoveries new to science. 



The most interesting creatures that have rewarded 

 me in my search are two species of large burrowing 

 spiders that had heretofore escaped the attention of. 

 naturalists. These spiders build beautiful, complicated 

 structures above their burrows, with which they take 

 as much pains as most birds do in building their nests. 



The Eev. Dr. McCook has named one of these spiders 

 Tarantula tigrina, or tiger -spider, from the fact that 

 the legs have annular stripes of gray and black, like a 

 tiger's. 



This species digs, a tube in the earth six or seven 

 inches in depth and' uniformly straight. But its skill 

 and wisdom are displayed in erecting the upper part of 

 its domicile, which is evidently for concealment. It 



