The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-10-11
Bird.Spiders.

Among the formidable animals to be
met with in the forests of the Amazons,
none is more unpleasant to encounter
than the Bird-Spider (Myzole amricu
ldria), which is able from its size to
seize upon small birds for its prey.
The history of an experience with one
Of these ugly cannibals is related in a
late number Of Forest and Stream. A
gentleman stopping at a wood-cutting
establishment on the Esseguibo started
out in a canoe, one morning at day
break, in search of some sort of fish or
flesh for his breakfast The SPRING
hooks which had been set in the stream
the previous evening were found
empty I; therefore the gun was bfsught
into requisition for the needed supplies.
While eagerly searching for game, the
comrade bearing him company "sud-
denly fired at some object moving
rapidly along the topmost branch of a
tree which overhung the sluggish
stream a short distance in advance.
For moment or two the success of his
aim seemed doubtful /; then something
came tumbling through the intervening
foliage, and l guided" says the mar
rator, .the canoe beneath, lest the
prey be lost in the waters. Our sur
prise was not unmingled, | must con-
fess, with vexation at first, on finding
that the strange character of our game
removed the possibility of a morning S
repast as far off as ever. A huge
spider and half-fedged bird lay in
the bottom of our canoe-the one with
disiointed limbs and mutilated carcass,
the other uninjured by the shot, but
nearly dead, though still family palpi-
tating. The remains of the spider
showed him to be larger than any l
had previously seen. He may have
measured two-and-a-half inches in the
body, with legs probably twice that
length. He was rough and shaggy,
with thick covering of hair or bristles,
which, beside giving him an additional
appearance of strength, considerably
increased the fierceness of his aspect.
The hairs were in some places fully an
inch long, of dark-brown color in
clining to black. His powerful jaws
and sturdy arms seemed never adapted
for the death-struggle of prey less
noble than this small member of the
feathered race, for whom our succor
had unfortunately arrived too late.
The victim had been snatched from
the nest while the mother was assisting
to collect mornings meal for her off
spring. 1t had been clutched by the
neck Immediately above the shoulders;
the marks of the murderer's talons still
remained; and, although no blood had
escaped from the wounds, they were
much intlamed and swollen
Mr.. Bates, the English naturalist,
who for eleven years was engaged in
studying the habits of animals on the
Amazons, has made careful record of
an interview with a bird-spider. He
fell in with the individual at Cameta,
and states that it "was nearly two
inches in length of body, but the legs
expanded seven inches, and the entire
body and legs were covered with coarse
gray and reddish hairs. | was attract-
ed" he continues, .'by movements of
the monster ON a tree-trunk; it was
close beneath deep crevice in the tree,
across which was stretched a dense,
white web. The lower part of the web
was broken, and two small birds
finches entangled in the pieces.
One of them was quite dead,
and was smeared with the filthy liquor,
or saliva, exuded by the monster. l
drove away..,,the spider and took the
birds, but the second one soon died.
The Myzoles are quite COM
mon insects; some species make their
cells under stones, others form artisti-
cal tunnels in the earth, and some build
their dens in the thatch of houses.
The hairs with which they are
clothed come off when touched, and
cause peculiar and almost maddening
irritation. The first specimen that |
killed and prepared was handled in
cautiously, and / suffered terribly for
three days afterward. l think this is
not owing to any poisonous quality re-
siding in the hairs, but to their being
short and hard, and thus getting into
the fine creases of the skin. Some
Myzoles are of immense size. One day
l saw the children belonging to an
Indian family, who collected for me,
with one of these monsters secured by
cord round its waist, by which they
were leading it about the house as they
would dog"