86 



IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



up there was not even a piece of shell in the egg cham- 

 ber. But it was strange that the hollow should have 

 been filled in, and the dome raised, as we found it. 

 For there were indications that it had contained eggs ; 

 in fact, birds had been observed in the vicinity only 

 a week prior to our visit. A second mound, half a 



NESTING MOUND OF LOWAN ^CLOSED). 



mile distant from the first, was also examined. From 

 this incubator the chicks had escaped, apparently, to 

 begin their free life in the scrub. There was no dome 

 in this case, only a hollow, with low, smooth ramparts 

 of sand around it. Pieces of eggshell were picked 

 from loose sand in the cavity, and there were some 

 fragments near the mound. 



The name "Thermometer-Bird" has been sug- 

 gested for Leipoa ocellata, and it is not inappropriate. 

 But the native word, Lowan, is more musical, and pre- 

 ferable even to Mallee-Fowl. The habits of these 



