NATURAL HISTORY 



LAGrUJ 



Albus (Lat. li'ltite), the Ptarmigan. 



among which it dwells, that a whole covey easily eludes an 

 unpractised eye. 



Enormous numbers of Ptarmigans are annually imported 

 from the north of Europe, especially Norway and Sweden, to 

 the London market. One poulterer has purchased fifteen 

 thousand of these birds, and twenty-four thousand have been 

 exported in one ship from one place. 



Like that of the grouse, the Ptarmigan's nest is a loosely 

 constructed heap of twigs and grass, and contains from ten 

 to fourteen eggs of a reddish white spotted with brown. 



THE BRUSH TURKEY. 



The MEGAPODID/E, deriving their name from the enormous 

 size of their feet, are inhabitants of Australia and the Papuan 

 Islands. In the habits of these birds there is a peculiarity 

 hardly less singular than surprising. Instead of hatching 

 their eggs by the warmth of the body, as most birds do, not 

 excepting the ostrich, the Megapodes bury their eggs in a 

 decaying heap of grass ami leaves, trusting to the heat fur- 

 nished by the fermentation to hatch the eggs. 



