One section of ;he tireat IJeeile family devotes its enerj^ies to tlie decent interment of any small animals found dead 

 in field or woodland. Soon after one has fallen, these little Sexton-beetles tjet scent of the occurrence, and come 

 flyinf,' to the spot. They walk all over and around the body, as though fonninn an estimate of the amount of labour 

 involved in its burial. Then they get below it, and by shovelling; the earth with their heads and pushinti it away with 

 their legs, let the corpse sink in to a depth of two or three inches below the surface. Eggs are laid on the body 

 and the sirave is filled in. The ijrnbs that hatch out from the etj^s rapidly consume the flesh. 



