234 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIS1. 
tree about three feet from the leaf of the Christmas bush. 
When I found it again it had still a small silver looking mat 
on the top side of the pepper tree leaf, and woven the same 
shape as on the other leaf, and in the day time it was always 
to be found resting in the same position on the silver looking 
spot or mat, while at night it was hanging under the leaf and - 
active with its legs. This spider since it has been out in 
the open has grown considerably and some ten weeks since I 
noticed a perfectly round tan coloured ball with curious 
dark markings thereon was hung by a web: to the leaf and the — 
spider was attached to the ball, a week later a second ball 
was hung up to the first, and now every week since a new 
ball has been added, till there are now ten all the same colour 
and with similar markings on them. JI have been curious to 
know where these balls came from and how they were made, 
and last evening, taking a gentleman into the garden to see 
the spider, I was rewarded and found the creature had a small 
yellow looking drop attached to the lower part of its body 
about the size of a small gun shot, it looked like a small yellow 
drop of honey. On returning with a light later I found the 
spider had removed this drop of honey looking substance and 
was holding it with its seven legs close to its mouth, while 
the creature was suspended to a web with one leg only, and 
it was turning the said drop of honey looking substance round 
and round. On looking at it with a glass I observed it was 
spinning a white silver looking web round this drop of honey 
looking substance and the ball soon became double its size. 
This process went on till the ball was made about 7/16ths of 
an inch in diameter, and still a pure silver white colour. A 
few minutes later this ball changed colour and I found it 
was being covered with a light tan coloured silk web, the ball 
then soon changed to a very dark tan colour and the same 
colour all over. The spider then held the ball out at arm’s 
length and turned it round and round as if to see all was 
right. Then it brought the ball close to its mouth and began 
to decorate it with curious black and tan markings in straight 
lines across, as all the other balls had been marked, and after 
completing it it fastened it to the chain of other balls it had 
made which are all now hanging on the pepper tree. 
A few days since I noticed the top ball of the chain of 
balls had a small, hole in it about the size of a pin’s head, 
and from this hole numerous minute spiders came out and 
were running backwards and forwards on two ‘small single 
