LEIPOA OCELLATA, 335 



and covered up by the birds as they lay them. 

 The bird never sits upon the eggs, but when she 

 has laid her number, the whole are covered up, 

 after which the mound of sand resembles an ant's 

 nest. The eggs are hatched by the heat of the 

 sun's rays, the vegetable lining of the hillock re- 

 taining sufficient warmth during the night. The 

 eggs are deposited in layers; no two eggs being 

 suffered to lie without a division. In opening 

 the mounds, ants are found almost as numerous 

 as in an ant-hill. These insects may not im- 

 probably add to the warmth, but serve as a ready 

 supply of food for the young birds when they get 

 from their place of confinement. It is not a little 

 extraordinary that they should be able to accom- 

 plish this, as in many instances it was found that 

 the part of the mound, surrounding the lower 

 portion of the eggs, had become so hard, that it 

 was necessary to chip round them with a chisel 

 in order to get them out. The insides of the 

 mound are always hot. These nests are always 

 found where the soil is dry and sandy, and so 

 thickly wooded with a species of dwarf plant, 

 (Leptospermum) that in straying from the native 

 paths, it is almost impossible to force a way 

 through. In these close scrubby woods, small 

 open glades occasionally occur, and here the bird 

 constructs its nest, which is sometimes nine feet 

 in diameter. 



