LEAVES FROM THE NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 



47 



the heat not so high by two degrees ; so that, as 

 he observes, the life in the living egg assisted in 

 some degree to support its own heat. We have 

 no statement of the heat of these procreant mounds 

 at hatching-time, but the talegalla, without any 

 aid but that which comes from above, knows ex- 

 actly the time when they have arrived at that 

 degree of temperature necessary for hatching the 

 eggs, and which, probably, closely approximates 

 to that whicli Hunter found to prevail in the sit- 

 ting hen. 



Mr. Gould was credibly informed, both by na- 

 tives and settlers living near the haunts of these 

 birds, that it is not unusual to obtain nearly a 

 bushel of eggs at one time from a single heap, 

 and delicious eating they are said to be. There 

 seems to be some discrepancy as to the degree of 

 care manifested by the parents for their oviplanta- 

 tion, some of the natives stating that the females 

 are constantly in the neighborhood of the heap 

 about hatching-time, frequently uncovering the 

 eggs and covering them up again, as if for the 

 purpose of assisting the young birds that may have 

 broken their prison, whilst others informed Mr. 

 Gould that the eggs are merely deposited, and the 

 young left to force their way out without assist- 

 ance. 



If the latter information be correct, the question 

 arises as to how the newly-hatched birds are sus- 

 tained ; and Mr. Gould observes that in all proba- 

 bility as Nature has adopted this mode of repro- 

 duction, she has also gifted the young birds with 

 the power of sustaining themselves from the 

 earliest period ; and he remarks, that the great 

 size of the egg would lead to this conclusion, since 

 in so comparatively large a space as that included 

 in the area of one of these eggs it is reasonable to 

 suppose that the bird would be much more de- 

 veloped than is usually found to be the case in 

 eggs of smaller dimensions. Mr. Gould obtained 

 some confirmation of this opinion ; for, in search- 

 ing for eggs in one of the mounds, he discovered 

 the remains of a young bird, apparently just ex- 

 cluded from the shell, but it was clothed with 

 feathers, not with down, as is usually the case. 

 The upright position of the eggs, he observes, 

 tends to strengthen the opinion that they are never 

 disturbed after they are deposited, for it is well 

 known that the eggs of birds which are placed 

 horizontally are frequently turned during incuba- 

 tion. This may be seen by any o'ne who will 

 closely watch a common sitting hen. Mr. Gould 

 was almost too late for the breeding season, but 

 he saw several of the heaps, both in the interior 

 and at Illawarra. They were always in the most 

 retired and shady glens, and on the slope of a hill, 

 the part above the nest being scratched clean, 

 while all below remained untouched, as if the 

 birds had found it easier to cortvey the materials 

 down than to throw them up. Mr. Gould found 

 only one perfect egg, but he saw the shells of 

 many from which the young had escaped in the 

 position above described. At Illawarra he found 

 them rather deposited in the light vegetable mould 



than among the leaves, which were accumulated 

 in a considerable heap above them. 



The comparatively large size of the eggs has 

 been alluded to. Mr. Gould describes them as 

 perfectly white, of a long oval form, three inches 

 and three-quarters long, by two inches and a half 

 in diameter. He saw a living specimen in the 

 garden of the late lamented Mr. Alexander M'Leay, 

 at Sydney, which had for two successive years 

 collected an immense mass of materials, as if it 

 had been in its native woods. Wherever it was 

 allowed to range borders, lawn, and shrubbery 

 presented an appearance that would have satisfied 

 the most fastidious lover of garden neatness, for 

 they looked as if they had been regularly swept, 

 from the bird having scratched everything that lay 

 upon the surface to add to the mound, which was 

 about three feet high and ten feet over. On 

 placing his arm in it, Mr. Gould found the heat to 

 be about 90 or 95 Fahr. He saw the bird, 

 which was a male, strutting about with proud and 

 majestic port, " sometimes parading round the 

 heap, at others perching on the top, and displaying 

 its brilHantly-polored neck and wattle to the greatest 

 advantage ; this wattle it has the power of expand- 

 ing and contracting at will ; at one moment it is 

 scarcely visible, while at another it is extremely 

 prominent. 



Here was an instance of the uncontrollable 

 power of instinct. This solitary bird persever- 

 ingly continued to construct its mound and keep it 

 ready for the mate, which it was never destined to 

 see. It was unfortunately drowned, and then its 

 sex was discovered upon dissection. 



Leipoa ocettata, the ngow of the aborigines of the 

 lowland, the ngow-oo of those of the mountain 

 districts of Western Australia, and the native pheas- 

 ant of the Western Australian colonists, is the 

 next form of this anomalous family that claims our 

 notice. 



The head and crest are of a blackish-brown 

 hue, and a dark ashy gray pervades the neck and 

 shoulders. From the chin to the breast the fore- 

 part of the neck is covered with black lanceolate 

 feathers, with a white stripe down the centre 

 of each. Three distinct bands of grayish-white, 

 brown, and black, mark the back and wings, the 

 marks taking an ocellated form, especially on the 

 tips of the secondaries. The primaries are brown, 

 and have their outer webs pencilled with two or 

 three zigzag lines near their tips. The whole of 

 the under surface is light buff, and the tips of the 

 flank feathers are barred with black. The black- 

 ish-brown tail has a broad buff tip. The bill is 

 black, and the feet are blackish brown. 



This species lays its eggs in a mound of sand, 

 about three feet in height, which both sexes have 

 contributed to raise, and to form which the natives 

 say that the birds scratch up the sand all around 

 for many yards. The inside of the mound pre- 

 sents alternate layers of dried leaves, grasses, &c, ; 

 among which twelve eggs, or more, are deposited, 

 and covered up by the birds as they are laid, till 

 the process is complete, when the sandy mound 



