THE SNARE-WEAVERS. 193 
scarcely fail to find some of these tiny webs leading 
fnto silk-lined holes where the spider is waiting for 
her prey. 
Yet even these are not the most clever of all 
spiders, for on the shores of the Mediterranean you 
may find some which not only live in silk-lined 
tunnels but actually make doors to their houses (see 
Fig. 66). These doors are made of layers of web 
and earth, and they shut down naturally by their 
own weight, so as to be quite hidden by the grass 
growing over them ; but, if by chance they are dis- 
turbed, the spider herself will often rush to the top 
of the tube and sticking her claws into the door 
(D m, Fig. 66), will hold it down with all her might 
as she presses her body against the sides of her 
home. 
Now see how this spider gains her living. A 
naturalist named Erber once sat out for many hours 
on a moonlight night watching her doings, and soon 
after nine o'clock he saw two of these spiders come 
out each from their holes, and pushing open their 
doors, fasten them back by fine threads to the blades 
of grass near, and then spin a web round the open 
hole and go back into their tunnels. By and by two 
night-beetles were caught, one in each web, and in 
an instant the spiders darted out and pierced their 
victims with their poisoned fangs, sucked out their 
soft flesh and then carried the empty bodies away 
to some distance from their holes. Then Erber left 
them, and in the morning the spiders had cleared 
away all trace of the webs and were shut down 
snugly in their hidden homes. 
Which among us works more cleverly or with 
