The Burying-Beetles: Experiments 



but did not think of looking for it in order to 

 go out. 



According to the famous American orni- 

 thologist, the Turkeys, lured by the grains 

 of maize, descended the insidious slope, en- 

 tered the short underground passage and be- 

 held, at the end of it, plunder and the light. 

 A few steps farther and the gluttons emerged, 

 one by one, from beneath the bridge. They 

 distributed themselves about the enclosure. 

 The maize was abundant; and the Turkeys' 

 crops grew swollen. 



When all was gathered, the band wished 

 to retreat, but not one of the prisoners paid 

 any attention to the central hole by which he 

 had arrived. Gobbling uneasily, they passed 

 again and again across the bridge whose arch 

 was yawning beside them; they circled round 

 against the palisade, treading a hundred 

 times in their own footprints; they thrust 

 their necks, with their crimson wattles, 

 through the hars; and there, with their beaks 

 in the open air, they fought and struggled 

 until they were exhausted. 



Remember, O inept one, what happened 

 but a little while ago; think of the tunnel 

 that led you hither! If that poor brain of 

 yours contains an atom of ability, put two 

 ideas together and remind yourself that the 



349 



