THE DOR-BEETLE. 117 



those sun-like rays, in plainer language, none of those van- 

 dyked notches which distinguish that of the Egyptian, but it 

 is adorned, like the latter, with a pair of horns,* finished by 

 laminated or leafy tips. Black, in both insects, is the pre- 

 vailing hue, at least on the upper side ; but in our dor, the 

 wing-cases are tinted on their margins with bright violet, 

 while the legs and whole of the under surface are cased in 

 armour of steely blue, glossed with green and purple. The 

 exterior, indeed, of this dweller in defilement is far from un- 

 pleasing, and he is remarkable, as well as others of his tribe, 

 for absence of all unsightly traces of his habits or resorts. 



To look at the unsullied polish of his mail, one might sup- 

 pose him risen, like the green gold-chafer, from a bed of 

 roses ; whereas, being a true Scarabseus in nature, if not in 

 name, there is little doubt, when we see him in his evening 

 flight, of his having left recently a bed of very opposite de- 

 scription a bed, in short, of dung wherein, through the 

 live-long day, he has been reposing; or whereat, like his 

 Egyptian prototype, he has been hard at work, helping, per- 

 haps, his partner to roll masses for enclosure of her eggs, or 

 to bore holes for their reception. 



The drone of the dor-beetle was once taken as a prognostic 

 of fine weather, and is esteemed by some people, although a 

 harsh, yet by no means an " undelightful hum." To us, 

 associate though it be with warm and quiet evenings, there is 



* Antennae. 



