IN FEATHERS AND FUR. 177 
with mud, because, you must know, there are many greedy insects 
who will eat every Spider baby they sec. 
Others build hanging houses. Some are three or four inches 
long, slim and made of white silk ; others are made of empty seed 
pods fastened together and lined with silk, for w r herever one of the 
AracJinida family lives, she must have silk curtains to her house. 
One of my relatives who lives in the West Indies — a splendid 
fellow, with body an inch and a half long, and bushes of hair on his 
legs — fastens his house to a plant, and it looks like an oval silk 
ball. It is very aristocratic and nice. 
But I think the most wonderful house is made by the Trap-door 
Spider, another foreigner — native of Australia. She is quite large, 
more than an inch long, and she digs a deep tunnel in the ground, 
which, of course, she lines with heavy silk hangings. Then at the 
top she makes a door, so wonderful that she takes her name from 
it. It is made of silk, stiffened with some sort of gum. The out- 
side is covered with dirt, bits of bark, etc., exactly like the ground 
around it, so that when it is shut it cannot be seen. The w r hole is 
hung with a hinge like any door. What do you think of that? 
Madam Cteniza (for that's her book name) often sits in her door to 
enjoy the air, but if any one comes near, she slams the door, and 
holds it fast. 
In the picture, on next page, the front is cut away from one 
of the curious houses to show how it looks inside when its indus- 
trious builder is at home. The door is left open to show how it is 
made, though you must not suppose it ever stands open like that. 
My relative is too careful a housekeeper to allow any such thing. 
Two other doors are also shown, one open to display its thickness 
and form, and the other closed that you may see how nicely it is 
concealed when shut. In fact, the artist has made it show plainer 
than it does in reality, for careful naturalists have found it impossi- 
ble to find the door through w r hich they had just seen the owner 
disappear. 
Some of my family have a strange fancy for living about the 
water. One of them is called the Raft-Spider, because he makes a 
raft of leaves and sticks, held together with silk. On this he sails 
around, eating such food as he can find on the water. He can run 
on the water too, easily. There is a picture of him on next page. 
The most singular one, who builds a snug house under water, 
and spends all her time there, is called the Water Spider. Now 
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