OF VICTORIA, 205 



vegetation. The sand is then spread well over the mound 

 to a depth of about 6 inches ; and after a few days, when 

 the vegetation has heated, the mound is ready for eggs. 

 The nest is generally made in July or August, and the 

 first eggs are laid towards the end of September, but the 

 absence of the necessary rain sometimes makes it later. 

 Both birds assist in 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 two inches of it at the bottom, she then lays 

 her %gg^ 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 Q^g 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 two 

 inches of sand over them, and 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 temperature of the egg-cavity to be from 95° to 

 96° Fahr. The eggs are laid at daybreak on every third 



