The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



pinion- and tail-feathers. Reptiles and fish, 

 on the other hand-, retain their scales. 



Let us return to the unrecognizable thing 

 that was once a Mole. The tit-bit lies in a 

 spacious crypt, with firm walls, a regular 

 workshop, worthy of being the bake-house 

 of a Copris. Except for the fur, which lies 

 scattered about in flocks, it is intact. The 

 grave-diggers have not eaten into it: it is the 

 patrimony of the sons, not the provision of 

 the parents, who, to sustain themselves, levy 

 at most a few mouthfuls of the ooze of putrid 

 humours. 



Beside the dish which they are kneading 

 and protecting are two Necrophori; a couple, 

 no more. Four collaborated in the burial. 

 What has become of the other two, both 

 males? I find them hidden in the soil, at a 

 distance, almost on the surface. 



This observation is not an isolated one. 

 Whenever I am present at a funeral under- 

 taken by a squad in which the males, zealous 

 one and all, predominate, I find presently, 

 when the burial is completed, only one couple 

 in the mortuary cellar. After lending their 

 assistance, the rest have discreetly retired. 



These grave-diggers, in truth, are remark- 

 able fathers. They have nothing of the 

 happy-go-lucky paternal carelessness that is 

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