IIASORES. 155 



Genus LEIPOA, Gould. 



As in the case with Talcf/allus, the only species of this form 

 that has yet been discovered is strictly confined to Australia. 



Sp. 477. LEIPOA OCELLATA, Gould. 



OCELLATED LeIPOA. 



Leipoa ocellata, Gould iu Proc. of Zool. Soc, part viii. p. 126. 

 Ngow, Aborigines of the lowland ; Ngow-oo, of the mountain districts 



of Western Australia. 

 Native Pheasant, Colonists of Western Australia. 



Leipoa ocellata, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v. pi. 78. 



This remarkable bird is among the most important of the 

 ornithological novelties which the exploration of Western and 

 Southern Australia has unfolded to us. 



Like the Wattled Talegallus, it is rendered highly interesting 

 from the circumstance of its not hatching its own eggs, which, 

 instead of being incubated in the usual way, are deposited in 

 mounds of mixed sand and herbage, and there left for the 

 heating of the mass to develope the young, which, when ac- 

 complished, force their way through the sides of the mound 

 and commence an active life from the moment they see the 

 light of day. 



The Ocellated Leipoa appears to be more peculiarly suited 

 for a plain and open country than for the tangled brush ; and 

 it is most curious to observe how beautifully the means em- 

 ployed by Nature for the reproduction of the species is adapted 

 to the situations it is destined to inhabit. The following 

 sketches of its economy, as far as it has yet been ascertained, 

 were sent me by Gilbert and Sir George Grey, and are here 

 given in their own words : — 



" "Wongan Hills, Western Australia, September 28, 1842. 

 " This morning I had the good fortune to penetrate into 

 the dense thicket I had been so long anxious to visit in search 



