, the Lycosa seems to wish to give herself a little more
space. This is the moment to subject her to certain tests.

We know that the Field Cricket, when removed from his burrow and caged
under conditions that would allow him to dig himself a new home should
the fit seize him, prefers to tramp from one casual shelter to another,
or rather abandons every idea of creating a permanent residence. There
is a short season whereat the instinct for building a subterranean
gallery is imperatively aroused. When this season is past, the
excavating artist, if accidentally deprived of his abode, becomes a
wandering Bohemian, careless of a lodging. He has forgotten his talents
and he sleeps out.

That the bird, the nest-builder, should neglect its art when it has no
brood to care for is perfectly logical: it builds for its family, not for
itself. But what shall we say of the Cricket, who is exposed to a
thousand mishaps when away from home? The protection of a roof would be
of great use to him; and the giddy-pate does not give it a thought,
though he is very strong and more capable than ever of digging with his
powerful jaws.

What reason can we allege for this neglect? None, unless it be that the
season of strenuous burrowing is past. The instincts have a calendar of
their own. At the given hour, suddenly they awaken; as suddenly,
afterwards, they fall asleep. The ingenious become incompetent when the
prescribed period is ended.

On a subject of this kind, we can consult the Spider of the waste-lands.
I catch an old Lycosa in the fields and house her, that same day, under
wire, in a burrow where I have prepared a soil to her liking. If, by my
contrivances and with a bit of reed, I have previously moulded a burrow
roughly representing the one from which I took her, the Spider enters it
forthwith and seems pleased with her new residence. The product of my
art is accepted as her lawful property and undergoes hardly any
alterations. In course of time, a bastion is erected around the orifice;
the top of the gallery is cemented with silk; and that is all. In this
establishment of my building, the animal's behaviour remains what it
would be under natural conditions.

But place the Lycosa on the surface of the ground, without first shaping
a burrow. What will the homeless Spider do? Dig herself a dwelling, one
would think. She has the strength to do so; she is in the prime of life.
Besides, the soil is similar to that