OF SOUTHERN AU STB ALIA. 227 



making the mound. The sand is scraped together with both 

 the feet and the wings, the latter being used especially when 

 getting the sand well up on the mound, which, when finished, 

 often measures at the base 12 feet in diameter, and in the 

 centre from 2 to 4 feet high, and as the sand is generally dry, 

 and runs freely, it is no easy matter for the birds to heap it 

 up as they do. The various measurements given are about 

 the average, as they differ more or less in every mound. The 

 nest being ready for eggs, the hen bird scrapes out most of 

 the sand from the egg-cavity, and leaving about 2 inches of 

 it at the bottom, she then lays her egg, and holding it upright 

 with one foot, with the small end downwards, she scrapes the 

 sand round it with the other foot until it can stand alone. 

 The bird has to lean well back to enable her to use both her 

 feet. She then covers the whole with sand. The egg-cavity 

 has to be scraped out and refilled every time an egg is laid, 

 giving much work to the parent birds. The eggs are generally 

 placed at the outer edge of the chamber, and one often in the 

 centre. The first eggs are covered up with about 2 inches of 

 sand over them, aiid a second tier commenced, each egg being 

 laid opposite the interspaces of the lower lot. There are 

 generally three tiers, with from three to five eggs in each, and 

 a full clutch is about 14. I have always found the tempera- 

 ture of the egg-cavity to be from 95 ° to 96 ° Fahr. The eggs 

 are laid at daybreak on every third day, and incubation takes 

 a little over five weeks. As incubation starts as soon as the 

 egg is laid, the young ones are ready to hatch at different 

 times. The eggs are usually of a delicate pink colour, 

 especially when first laid, but the pink colouring matter 

 easily comes off, especially after the egg has been taken out of 

 the nest for some little time, and leaves the white under 

 surface exposed ; occasionally I have found all the eggs in one 

 mound pure white. The shell is very fragile, and one reason 

 why the eggs are placed on end is evidently to sustain the 



