THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 133 
grassy plot watching at some distance the headlong, tumble- 
down, dashing flight of the birds in question, I was surprised 
at the number of dead dor-beetles lying about at my feet, 
scattered here and there. On closer examination each of 
these defunct beetles proved to be but a shelli—so to speak— 
of its former self, the soft parts of the body having all disap- 
peared most probably in the ants’-nest at no great distance, 
many members of which association formed a foraging party 
amongst the grass-stems, notwithstanding the inclemency of 
the weather. I furthermore observed that this small, sandy 
greensward was a regular nursery for the beetle above 
named, and that its soft spongy surface was tunnelled in 
many places, and in the choice of such a site the beetles had 
exercised no small amount of wisdom, for not only was the 
nature of the ground peculiarly adapted for their “ borings,” 
but the droppings of the rabbits, which came to feed upon 
the grass at night, made such a situation doubly convenient, 
for here was food for their future offspring close at hand, and, 
more than that, the pellets were ready made. Several beetles 
were busy collecting these pellets; one of these I watched 
more closely than the rest, and its mode of procedure was as 
follows:—the tunnel at which the creature was working was 
surrounded with a small, sandy mound, caused no doubt by 
the throwings out during the excavation; at the base of this 
mound several pellets of dung were lying, as the beetle did 
not dispose of them down the tunnel as it brought them, but 
collected several before they were drawn up the side of the 
so-called mound to be rolled into the tunnel. Whether these 
pellets were discovered by scent or sight I could not satis- 
factorily prove,—possibly by a combination of both,—but 
most of us are aware that the olfactory organs of these 
creatures are very acute. In searching for these pellets the 
beetle invariably went in the same direction, and on finding 
one it seemed to be recognized by an application of the 
palpi: the pellet was then seized by the two fore legs, the 
hooks and pointed projections—of which the use was very 
apparent—holding it firmly, whilst the pellet was further 
steadied by the head of the operator. In this position it was 
dragged, the beetle going backwards in exactly the same 
track as it had come in its search, and it was surprising to see 
how tenaciously it held on to its prize, for in returning it often 
