402 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



•whilst the outer hand hecomes broader and more golden. Red mingles with the tints on 

 the rump, where the plumage almost assumes the brilliant character of that of some 

 humming-birds, and the bright border is separated from the blue by a band of velvety 

 black. The hidden part of each feather is gray, mottled with black ; and, indeed, upon 

 the tad and upper coverts this gray is shown, forming bars, one of wliich, immediately 

 succeeding the blue band, surrounds it, and gives each feather an ocellated appearance, 

 Hence the name which is given to the bird. 



THE BRUSH TURKEY.* 



A ^'erv remarkable bird was originally described by Latham under the name of the 

 New Holland vulture ; but, subsequently, he removed it from among the vultures, and 

 placed it among the birds of the gallinaceous order, to which it really belongs. 



The Brush Turkey, or, as Mr. Goidd terms it, the Wattled Talegalla, inhabits various 

 districts of New South Wales, from Cape Howe on the south to Moreton Bay on the 

 north. In some places, where it was once common, it has now become rare ; and we 

 learn that the cedar-cutters, and others, who are in the constant habit of hunting through 

 the brushes of lUawara and Maitland, have nearly extirpated it from these localities. It 

 is, however, still abundant in the dense brushes of the Manning and Clarence, and along 

 the sides of the lower hills that branch off from the great range into the interior ; on the 

 Brezi range to the north of the Liverpool plains, and also on the hills on each side of the 

 Samoi. 



In its habits, the brush turkey is gregarious, associating in small flocks, which wander 

 among the dense covert of the brush-wood ; and it is shj' and distrustful. It runs with 

 great facility, and, from the nature of the localities it frequents, easily eludes pursuit. 

 One of its greatest enemies is the dingo, or wild dog ; and when hard pressed by this 

 ferocious beast of prey, it springs to the lower branch of a tree, and, by a succession of 

 leaps from branch to branch, ascends to the top. The whole flock act in concert, and, 

 having ascended as high as they can, they either remain perched in security, or fly to a 

 distant spot, where the tangled brush-wood promises a more efl'ectual concealment. 

 They are also in the habit of resorting to the branches of trees, as a shelter from the mid- 

 day sun ; and while thus reposing, they ofier a sure mark to the sportsman, who may kill 

 the whole flock, for they will allow a succession of shots to be fired without moving, or 

 being roused from their lethargy. It is by taking advantage of their mid-day repose, 

 that the colonists destroy them in great numbers, for the sake of their flesh, which is 

 extremely delicate and tendtn-, and is consequently in high esteem. 



While wandering through the brush, these birds utter a clucking noise ; their food 

 consists principally of berries and various seeds ; and, like our common poultry, they dust 

 themselves in the soft ground, making bare depressions in the spots which they frequent. 



The most interesting and remarkable circumstance connected with the economy of the 

 brush turkey is, that it does not hatch its eggs l)y incubation ; it does not sit upon them 

 like other birds, not even occasionally, or during (ho night, but forms for them an 

 " eccaleobion," iti which they are hatched without the weary duties to which other birds 

 are called by the laws of nature. " The brush turkey," says Mr. Gould, " collects 

 togetlicr an immense heap of deca3'ing vegetable matter, as a depositorj' ibr llie eggs, 

 and trusts to the heat engendered by the process of decomposition for the development of 

 the young. The heap employed for this purpose is collected bj^ the bii-ds during several 

 weeks previous to the period of laying ; it Aaries in size from two to four cart-loads, 

 and is of a perfectly pyramidal form. The construction of the work is not the task of 

 one pair of birds, but is effected by tlic miitcd labours of several ; the same site appears 

 to me, from the great size, and the entire decomposition of the lower part, to bo resorted 



* TaloKnllii Liitluuiii. (iimlil. 



