228 
ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 
returned with a friend, whereupon the two overpowered th« 
cockchafer, and pulled it off to their hiding-place. 
Similarly, there is no doubt that the burying beetles 
( Nicrophorus ) co-operate. 
Several of them unite together to bury under the ground, as 
food and shelter for their young, some dead animal, such as a 
mouse, a toad, a mole, a bird, &c. The burial is performed 
because the corpse, if left above ground, would either dry up, or 
grow rotten, or be eaten by other animals. In all these cases 
the young would perish, whereas the dead body lying in the 
earth and withdrawn from the outer air lasts very well. The 
burying beetles go to work in a very well-considered fashion, 
for they scrape away the earth lying under the body, so that it 
sinks of itself deeper and deeper. When it is deep enough down, 
it is covered over from above. If the situation is stony, the 
beetles with united forces and great efforts drag the corpse to 
some place more suitable for burying. They work so diligently 
that a mouse, for instance, is buried within three hours. But 
they often work on for days, so as to bury the body as deeply as 
possible. From large carcasses, such as those of horses, sheep, 
&c., they only bury pieces as large as they can manage . 1 
Lastly, Clarville gives a case of a burying beetle which 
wanted to carry aw T ay a dead mouse, but, finding it too 
heavy for its unaided strength, went off, like the beetles 
previously mentioned, and brought four others to its as- 
sistance . 2 
A friend of Grleditsch fastened a dead toad, which he 
desired to dry, upon the top of an upright stick. The 
burying beetles were attracted by the smell, and finding 
that they could not reach the toad, they undermined the 
stick, so causing it to fall with the toad, which was then 
buried safe out of harm’s way . 3 
A converse exemplification of beetle-intelligence is 
given by Gr. Berkeley . 4 He saw a beetle carrying a dead 
spider up a heath plant, and hanging it upon a twig of the 
heath in so secure a position, that when the insect had left 
it Mr. Berkeley found that a sharp shake of the heather 
would not bring the dead spider down. As the burying 
1 Biichner, toe. cit., p. 344. 
2 Quoted in Strauss, Insects , s. 389. 
3 Kirby and Sperce, loo. cit ., pp. 321-2. 
4 Life and Recollections , vol. ii., p. 356. 
