The Sacred Beetle and Others 



of prey, of any member of the Owl family, 

 as its projecting end does not stand out con- 

 spicuously. 



From this pole to the other the ovoid 

 measures, on an average, forty millimetres 

 and thirty-four across.^ Its whole surface 

 is tightly packed, hardened by pressure, con- 

 verted into a crust with a little earth grained 

 into it. At the projecting end, an attentive 

 eye will discover a ring bristling with short 

 straggling threads. Once the egg is laid in 

 the cup into which the original sphere Is 

 hollowed, the mother, as I have already said, 

 gradually brings the edges of the cavity to- 

 gether. This produces the projecting end. 

 [To complete the closing, she delicately rakes 

 the ovoid and scrapes a little of the material 

 upwards. This forms the ceiling of the 

 hatching-chamber. At the top of this ceiling 

 which, if it fell in, would destroy the egg, the 

 pressure is very slight indeed, leaving an area 

 devoid of rind and covered w^ith bits of 

 thread. Immediately under this circle, 

 which is a sort of porous felt, lies the hatch- 

 ing-chamber, the egg's little cell, which easily 

 admits air and warmth. 



Like the Sacred Beetle's egg and those of 

 other Dung-beetles, the Copris' egg at once 



1 1.56 X 1.32 inches. — Translator's Note. 

 220 



