THE MALLEE COUNTRY 



87 



remarkable birds have often been described, but in 

 recent years new facts have been gleaned by keen 

 observers. Lowans are industrious birds. Both 

 sexes share in the mound-building, for which large 

 quantities of vegetable matter and sandy soil are re- 

 quired. In some cases material is brought from a 



NESTING MOUND OF LOWAN (OPEN). 



considerable distance, the birds scraping it along the 

 ground with their powerful feet ; the wings, also, some 

 observers state, are used, and frayed feathers tend to 

 prove this. An old mound may be renovated or a 

 new one built each year. In either case, the pre- 

 liminary work is done in autumn, the mound being 

 left open. Before the winter rains begin the birds 

 scrape vegetable matter and other debris into the 

 hollow, and their work ceases, perhaps for several 

 months, until the heap has become sodden, when a 

 layer of sand is added. Follows another period of 

 waiting, while the hot-bed is getting up steam, as it 



