The Lunary Copris 



abled me readily and quickly to produce light 

 or darkness. When suddenly surprised, the 

 male was perched upon the pellets almost as 

 often as the female ; but, whereas the mother 

 would frequently go on with her ticklish 

 nursery-work, polishing the pellets with the 

 flat of her leg and feeling and sounding them, 

 the father, more cowardly and less engrossed 

 in his duties, would drop down as soon as 

 the daylight was admitted and run away to 

 hide in some corner of the heap. There 

 is no way of seeing him at work, so quick is 

 he to shun the unwelcome light. 



Still, though he refused to display his 

 talents on my behalf, his very presence on 

 the top of the ovoids betrays them. Not 

 for nothing was he in that uncomfortable 

 attitude, so ill-adapted to an idler's slumbers. 

 He was then watching like his companion, 

 touching up the damaged parts, listening 

 through the walls of the shells to find out 

 how the youngsters were progressing. The 

 little that I saw assures me that the father 

 almost rivals the mother in domestic solici- 

 tude until the family is finally emancipated. 



The offspring gain in numbers by this 

 paternal devotion. In the Spanish Copris' 

 mansion, where the mother alone resides, we 

 find four nurselings at most, often two or 



361 



