The Sacred Beetle and Others 



of prey, of any member of the Owl family, 

 as its projecting end does not stand out con- 

 spicuously. 



From this pole to the other the ovoid 

 measures, on an average, forty millimetres 

 and thirty-four across.^ Its whole surface 

 is tightly packed, hardened by pressure, con- 

 verted into a crust with a little earth grained 

 into it. At the projecting end, an attentive 

 eye will discover a ring bristling with short 

 straggling threads. Once the egg is laid in 

 the cup into which" the original sphere is 

 hollowed, the mother, as I have already said, 

 gradually brings the edges of the cavity to- 

 gether. This produces the projecting end. 

 [To complete the closing, she delicately rakes 

 the ovoid and scrapes a little of the material 

 upwards. This forms the ceiling of the 

 hatching-chamber. At the top of this ceiling 

 which, if it fell in, would destroy the egg, the 

 pressure is very slight indeed, leaving an area 

 devoid of rind and covered with bits of 

 thread. Immediately under this circle, 

 which is a sort of porous felt, lies the hatch- 

 ing-chamber, the egg's little cell, which easily 

 admits air and warmth. 



Like the Sacred Beetle's egg and those of 

 other Dung-beetles, the Copris' egg at once 



1 1.56 X 1.32 inches. — Translator's Note. 

 220 



