MORTALITY AMONG BIRDS. 117 



tion, which would necessarily, in their case, attend 

 death from old age.* In those species which are 

 not the prey of others, but which are themselves the 

 devourers, the number of individuals' of each sort is 

 generally small ; and, doubtless, there exists some 

 other provision in their case, causing death at an 

 appointed age, before life has been protracted to 

 its utmost limit. There seems to be a reason, then, 

 at least in the case of the smaller birds, why we should 

 not oftener meet with dead individuals. A consider- 

 able proportion undergo a violent death: of those 

 which die in other ways, probably many are carried 

 oif by small predaceous quadrupeds almost as soon 

 as they fall to the ground; while the rest are left 

 for the scavenger insects to devour or bury, and it is 

 surprising in how short a time, during the warm 

 months of summer, some of the burying beetles will 

 accomplish the humble task allotted them by Provi- 

 dence, f 



* This subject has been before alluded to in the Introduction 

 to this work. See p. 24, note. 



t I have repeatedly, in spring, placed dead birds on the ground 

 in different spots, and found them so completely buried by the 

 Necrophorus vespilloy and other allied species, within twenty-four 

 hours after, or nearly, that I have sometimes had difficulty in 

 finding them again. 



