HABITS OF THE LEIPOA. 249 



as soon as laid, or, as the natives express it, " the 

 countenances of the eggs are never seen." 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 retaining suf- 

 ficient warmth during the night. The eggs are 

 deposited in layers, no two eggs being suffered to 

 lie without a division : they are about the size of 

 a fowl's egg, and are white, very slightly tinged 

 with red. The natives are exceedingly fond of 

 them, and rob the mounds two or three times in a 

 season. They judge of the probable number of 

 eggs in the heap by the quantity of feathers lying 

 around. If these are abundant, they know the 

 hillock is full, when they immediately open it, and 

 take the whole ; upon which the plundered bird 

 will again commence laying, to be robbed a second 

 time, and will frequently lay a third time. In 

 these mounds ants are almost as numerous as in 

 an ant-hill ; and it is said that, in some instances, 

 that part of the mound surrounding the lower 

 portion of the eggs becomes so hard, that it has 

 been necessary to chip round the eggs with a 



