360 



GALLIN.E. 



hundred or more, in holes, which they excavate to the 

 depth of two or three feet, on the sea-shore. Others 

 deposit their eggs in immense conical mounds, com- 

 posed of sand and shells, with a large mixture of 

 black soil and vegetable matter, the base generally 

 resting on the sandy beach within a few feet of high 

 water-mark. Some of these mounds measure from 

 twenty to sixty feet in circumference, and from five to 

 fifteen in height. The female lays her eggs in the 

 night, at intervals of several days, in perpendicular 

 holes dug near the middle of the mound, to the depth 

 of several feet. When she has deposited one, she col- 

 lects a quantity of sand in the hole, until the cavity is 

 filled up. The young are supposed by some to effect 

 their escape from the mound unaided, while, on the 

 other hand, it has been asserted that the parent birds, 

 knowing when the young are ready to emerge from 

 their confinement, scratch down and release them. 





