gg THE NATURALIST. 



announce the approach of day, before the sun's first rays have shot from the 

 East— the nightingale, (Sylvia lusciniaj—oi^eiis the chorus, and long after 

 the sun has set, when all other voices are hushed and the silent night 

 seems listening to his song, he is singing all the other birds to sleep. 



After leaving the shady lanes we entered the open country and fol- 

 lowed the banks of a stream, over which bright scarlet, blue, and green 

 dragon-flies were darting in every direction. The stream abounded with 

 land tortoises, many of which were more than a foot long. I noticed great 

 numbers of that interesting beetle, Ateuchus laticollis. It is very amusing 

 to observe its manoeuvres, I saw one bury the ball of dung and dirt con- 

 taining its eg^, after it had sought some time for a suitable place. When it 

 had disappeared beneath the sand I put a very large specimen of the same 

 species close to the place where it was busy underground. The large one 

 held its head on one side in an attitude of great attention, made some 

 sharp movements, and then began digging. It soon reached the other 

 beetle and a battle ensued, the one that had been disturbed rose to the 

 surface, and putting its head under the body of the. intruder threw it over 

 its back to the distance of several inches. The other nothing daunted 

 returned to the charge and they closed for a regular battle. There was a 

 deadly struggle for some time, during which their legs rattled and bent 

 and they rolled over each other time after time. At last the legitimate 

 owner of the e%^ was forced to give up the unequal contest and take to flight. 

 During our walk I noticed a long procession of large black ants, each 

 of which was carrying a grain of a small species of barley, I followed the 

 track of the ants to a patch of barley, but could see none of them at work. 

 At last in a place where the grain was the ripest I found every ear covered 

 with them ; it was very interesting to watch their curious way of reaping ; 

 they pulled the grains out of the ear by main force, shaking them from 

 side to side to loosen them. A number of these industrious little creatures 

 would soon clear a field. 



[The above interesting sketch is extracted from a letter to the Editors, and 

 will shortly be followed by a similar one of a day's excursion in the 

 neighbourhood of Cape Spartel, and also with lists of the Birds, 

 Coleoptera, and Plants of the Northern portion of Barbary. Eds. Nat.] 



