THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



241 



middle ; the place where alone the materials first collected 

 remain uncovered. One of these nests, the dimensions of 

 which are given by the illustrious ornithologist Gould, was 

 fourteen feet high, and presented a circumference of a hun- 



120. Nest of the Mound-Building Megapodius, vertical section. From Gould. 



dred and fifty feet. Compared to the size of the bird, the 

 dimensions of such a mountain are almost prodigious, and 

 we ask how, with its beak and claws only for pickaxe and 

 entire means of transport, it contrives to get together such 



121. Nest of the Mound-Building Megapodius, seen from above. From Gould. 



a mass of materials ! The celebrated tumulus of Achilles 

 and that of Patroclus assuredly demanded less labor. 



Were we to try to establish a comparison between the 



