186 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Body of a mole interred by this insect. 



charge, it drew the bird more and more into the 

 earth, till it was sunk to a considerable depth. 

 The beetle, in consequence of this uninterrupted 

 labour, appeared to be tired : leaning its head 

 upon the earth, it continued in that position near 

 an fyour without motion ; and it then retired 

 completely under ground. Early in the morning 

 the body was drawn entirely under ground, to 

 the depth of two fingers breadth, in the same po- 

 sition that it had when laid on the earth ; so that 

 this little corpse seemed as if it were laid out on 

 a bier, with a small mount or rampart all round 

 for the purpose of covering it. In the evening 

 the bird was sunk about half a finger's breadth 

 deeper in the earth ; and the operation was con- 

 tinued for near two days more, when the work 

 obtained its final completion. 



A single beetle was put into the glass cucurbit 

 with the body of a mole, and covered as before* 

 with a fine linen cloth. About seven o'clock in 

 the morning, the beetle had drawn the head of 

 the mole below; and in pushing the earth back- 

 ward, had formed a tolerably high rampart 

 around it. The interment was completed in this 

 instance by four o'clock in the afternoon, a space 

 of time so short that one could scarcely have 

 imagined possible by so small a creature, with- 

 out any assistance, considering that the body of 

 the mole must have exceeded it in bulk and 

 weight at least thirty times: 



The interment of these animals (which gene^ 

 rally takes place from about the middle of April 



