The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



passage by which you entered is there and 

 open for your escape ! You will do nothing of 

 the kind. The light, an irresistible attrac- 

 tion, holds you subjugated against the pali- 

 sade; and the shadow of the yawning pit, 

 which has but lately permitted you to enter 

 and will quite as readily permit you to go out, 

 leaves you indifferent. To recognize the use 

 of this opening you would have to reflect a 

 little, to recall the past; but this tiny retro- 

 spective calculation is beyond your powers. 

 So the trapper, returning a few days later, 

 will find a rich booty, the entire flock impris- 

 oned ! 



Of poor intellectual repute, does the 

 Turkey deserve his name for stupidity? He 

 does not appear to be more limited than 

 another. Audubon depicts him as endowed 

 with certain useful ruses, in particular when 

 he has to baffle the attacks of his nocturnal 

 enemy, the Virginian Owl. As for his be- 

 haviour in the snare with the underground 

 passage, any other bird, impassioned of the 

 light, would do the same. 



Under rather more diflScult conditions, 

 the Necrophorus repeats the ineptness of the 

 Turkey. When he wishes to return to the 

 daylight, after resting in a short burrow 

 against the rim of the cover, the Beetle, see- 

 350 



