TALEGALLAS. 



283 



of seeds, berries, and insects. The Australian species constructs, 

 in a retired and shady place, a remarkable mound of decayed 

 vegetables, collected by their feet, until they form a heap of suffi- 

 cient size, and procured by completely destroying the plants grow- 

 ing in the neighbourhood. After a certain time has been allowed 

 for the vegetables thus accumulated to engender some degree of 

 heat, several female birds deposit their eggs in the mound at a little 

 distance from each other, and cover them to a depth of three feet. 



Fig. 144.— The Red-footed Talkoalla (Miguccphalon rtifipes). 



They are placed perpendicularly, with the large end upwards, 

 and are thus left until they are hatched by the artificial heat of 

 this remarkable hotbed. The young birds force their way out of 

 the mound", and at the moment of their birth they are completely 

 clothed with feathers. The old birds are said to frequent the 

 vicinity of the nest at the time when the young may be expected 

 to appear, and frequently to uncover the eggs and cover them up 

 again. This has been confirmed by the breeding of a pair in the 

 London Zoological Gardens ; the male (not the female) being 

 assiduous in attending to the eggs and assisting the young birds 

 to make their escape. 



The type of this sub-family is — 



The Wattled Talegalla or Brush Turkey {Jalcgalla Lathami). 



