188 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA 



larger turrets give a height of five-eighths of an inch, and an 

 inside diameter of httle more than half an inch. Looking 

 down into the opening nothing but mysterious darkness 

 appears in the burrow below. 



This description does not by any means cover all the castles 

 of this ingenious artisan. Various combinations of material 

 are shown in the drawing illustrations, which were made directly 

 from the nest. By the time several nests are examined, one 

 finds evidence of the most whimsical tastes in the selection of 

 nesting material. An enumeration of these substances was 

 gathered one day, which showed the following assortment: 

 green and dried grass leaves, dried fine sedges, spikes and leaves 

 of the fox-tail grass, pepperweed, fibrous roots, ragweed leaves 

 curved by drying, spikes and burrs of cenchrus, wing of beetle, 

 weatherbeaten white paper, piece of brown string, twigs of 

 various kinds in bits, dark bark, seeds of weeds, sand made into 

 pellets, and small gravel from the soil — for variety, quite a 

 favorable comparison in this feature with some of the birds' 

 nests. 



If the day is warm and the castles are approached cautiously, 

 it is quite possible to find the spider peacefully sunning herself 

 on the top of her home. Or if she descends below into her 

 retreat and a doubt exists as to her presence, she may be dis- 

 covered by lightly exploring the tube with a long grass stem. 

 Our curiosity may be even carried further by digging a hole 

 down at one side with a table knife, to avoid injuring the castle, 

 then making an undercut below extending to the tube. The ex- 

 cavation may be carried on to the bottom where the spider rests. 



She is a fairly fleshy spider and presents a dark brown dress 

 of velvet (see illustration). Usually she is quite reluctant to 

 leave her tube, even after such an exposure, and when the earth 

 is carefully replaced she will soon repair the damaged tube. In 

 the event of taking her up for more minute examination, under 

 the excitement she may make a display by raising her two 

 front pairs of legs high in the air, thus showing the contrasting 

 rich black below on the outer three joints. On removing her 

 to new, favorable quarters, after a time she may attempt to 

 get below the ground by constructing a new home. This 

 afl'ords one an opportunity to study her interesting behavior. 



