ANIMAL AVOCATIONS 
229 
birds and mammals, but the smaller red-backed 
shrike usually confines itself to an insectivorous 
diet, although at times it will capture larger 
prey, such as mice, frogs and lizards. 
One would hardly expect the vocation of an 
undertaker to have its counterpart in animal 
fife, but in the burying or sexton beetles, several 
species of which are found in England, we have 
examples that resort to the practice of interring 
the carcases of any dead creatures that are not 
too large for them to deal with conveniently. 
They are extremely industrious workers, and 
it is recorded that four individuals, kept under 
observation in captivity, buried no less than 
four frogs, three small birds, two fish, a mole, 
two grasshoppers, and several fragments of 
other creatures, within the course of fifty 
days. 
When the beetles discover a dead bird, or a 
dead rat, they glide beneath it and commence 
to excavate a hole in the earth with the aid of 
their legs, the loose soil being thrown to one 
side as they proceed with their work. Gradually 
the carcase sinks into the pit thus made, until 
at last it rests below the level of the ground, 
when the diggers complete their task by throwing 
back the loose soil upon the dead body. 
The reason why the beetles undertake this 
laborious work is in order that the females 
