138 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



presence by making a savage rush at me, uttering at the same 

 time a kind of hissing, grunting noise ; quick as lightning I 

 discharged the contents of my gun, consisting of No. 8 shot, into 

 her eyes, completely blinding her ; then running back I hastily 

 loaded the gun with No. 2 shot, and approaching within about 25 

 feet I discharged the contents into her under the forearm — the 

 softest part — and so despatched her. 



It is a common error to suppose that a bullet will bounce off 

 the skin of a crocodile. The best weapon undoubtedly to shoot 

 them with is a shot-gun, provided you use large shot and can get 

 near enough to them. A crocodile's skin on the animal is as soft 

 as raw bullock hide, but when removed it dries and assumes a 

 hard and horny appearance. Of course the serrated ridges on 

 the back, composed of plates of bone, will turn a bullet if fired 

 sideways. 



On one occasion a friend of mine secured some crocodile eggs 

 for blowing, and having placed them in a hat-box under his bed, 

 forgot all about them. One day some time afterwards he was 

 surprised to hear a great commotion in the house, and on rushing 

 in found his wife and the black nursegirl on top of the bed 

 screaming. It appears they were cleaning out the room, and 

 happening to open the hat-box, some 25 little crocodiles started 

 out and rushed round the room snapping at everybody in a 

 vicious manner, but they were soon despatched. 



The young crocodiles when born are provided with a small 

 knob, as it were, of egg-like material, attached to their stomach, 

 to enable them to survive until such time as they can assist them- 

 selves. This egg-sac is assimilated by the system, and takes the 

 place of food, slowly disappearing as the little creature grows 

 older, and is finally absorbed after about a month. It was this 

 provision of nature which enabled them to live in the hat-box for 

 some time without other nourishment. 



In the open country Termites' or White Ants' mounds are 

 frequently met with, and it is a remarkable fact that one of the 

 parrakeets, Psephotus pulchert'ijnus, the Beautiful Parrakeet, 

 selects them to nest in. The bird bores a hole through the hard 

 exterior into the honeycombed interior, in which it forms a 

 chamber to receive the eggs. The Termites do not appear to in 

 any way interfere with the young parrakeets, but they often 

 desert their mounds. 



The Megapode, Alegapodius duperreyi, or Scrub-Hen, makes 

 its large nest or mound of leaves and rubbish in the dense scrub. 

 They are often of considerable size, being about 25 feet in 

 diameter at the base, and 8 feet high. The birds collect all the 

 materials together by scratching, which entails a considerable 

 amount of labour. The eggs are always laid in the mound 

 upright, with the smaller end downwards, and are covered over 



