122 THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



less sure instinct. Most people have seen the Necro- 

 phortis or Burying Beetle working in fields or gardens. 

 These are large Coleoptcra who feed on abandoned 

 carrion; everything is good to them — bodies of small 

 mammals, birds, or frogs; they are very easy to please, 

 and as long as the beast is dead that is all they 

 require. When they have found such remains, and 

 consider only how to satisfy their hunger, they do 

 not take much trouble, and gnaw the prey on the 

 spot where they have found it. They are not alone 

 at the feast, and in spite of their diligence numerous 

 rivals come up to dispute it; it is necessary to share 

 with a great number of noisy and voracious flies and 

 insects. In the adult state they come out well from 

 this competition; but as good parents they wish to 

 save their larvae from it, as in a feeble condition these 

 might suffer severely. They desire to lay up a carcass 

 for their young alone, and with this object they bury 

 it in the earth. The eggs also which will thus develop 

 in the soil have more chance of es'caping destruction 

 by various insectivorous animals. If these diggers 

 find a rat (Fig. i6) or a dead bird, three or four unite 

 their efforts, glide beneath it, and dig with immense 

 activity, kicking away with their hind legs the earth 

 withdrawn from the hole. They do not pause, and 

 their work soon perceptibly advances. The rat 

 gradually sinks in the pit as it grows deeper. When 

 they have the good fortune to find the earth soft they 

 can sink the prey in less than two hours to a depth 

 of thirty centimetres. At this level they stop, and 

 throw back into the hole the earth they have dug 

 out, carefully smoothing the hillock which covers the 

 grave. Thus stored up, the carcass is ready to receive 

 the Necrofihorus eggs. The females enter the soil and 



