NESTING HABITS AND PROTECTIVE ARCHITECTURE. 303 
Closely related to Zilla in the character of its snare is Epeira thaddeus, 
but in this species the nest making habit appears to be more strongly de- 
veloped. It may often be found nested in the angle of a door 
Nest of or window, or other like situation, 
eee on the outhouses of farms and 
addeus. eg : : 
rural buildings. Here it spins a 
white silken tube of close texture, which is 
generally a quite exact cylinder. In this 
respect it differs from the nests of Zilla and 
Epeira triaranea, which are almost habitually 
in the shape of an inverted bowl or dome. 
The cylindrical tent of Thaddeus varies in 
length from three-fourths of an inch to one 
and one-quarter inch, the latter being the 
length of the nest represented at Fig. 278. 
The cylinder is stayed by a series of lines 
attached to it at various parts and stretched 
to numerous points in the surrounding sur- 
face, thus holding it intact. Within the cylinder Thaddeus sits holding 
her trapline, through which all agitation upon her sectoral orb is com- 
municated, ; 
She has learned, however, the value of screening her cylindrical tent 
beneath a shelter of clustered leaves, as at Fig. 280. In this case the leaves 
are agglutinated by threads spun upon the inside or sewed upon the out- 
side, precisely as in the case of the Insular and Shamrock spiders. 
I have found this cylindrical nest spun within the needle like leaves 
of the pine tree, and the manner in which it was stayed, and preserved in 
sufficiently rigid attitude for the practical uses of its occupant, was a good 
example of the ingenuity of this species. (Fig. 279.) In the above ex- 
amples the nest is visible by the observer, but at other times it is wholly 
screened from view, being spun beneath and within the concave surfaces 
of two attached leaves whose edges have | 
been sewed together, and the entire shelter 
stayed by means of lines stretched to ad- 
joining leaves and the common stem. If 
the stay threads be cut and the leaf turned 
back, the cylindrical nest will be seen in- 
side as represented at Fig. 280. 
FiG, 279, Cylindrical nest of Thaddeus in Again the cylindrical tent of Thaddeus 
pine leaves, F 
will be woven underneath a cluster of sevy- 
eral leaves (Fig. 281), which overarch it like a rounded roof, making a 
pretty and effective shelter. Beneath this dome the silken cylinder may 
be seen projecting, the external end stayed by lines fastened to adjoining 
leaves, and the trapline stretched out taut to the centre, or the sectoral 
Fic. 278. Cylindrical nest of Epeira thad- 
deus, spun in the angle of a door. 
