THE WATTLED TALEGALLA. 343 



sun, a peculiarity that greatly tends to their destruction, as 

 the sportsman is not only enabled to take a certain aim, but, 

 like the ruffed grouse of America, they will even allow a 

 succession of shots to be fired until they are all brought down. 

 Unless some measures be adopted for their preservation, this 

 circumstance must lead to an early extinction of the race : an 

 event much to be regretted, since, independently of its being 

 an interesting bird for the aviary, its flesh is extremely deli- 

 cate, tender, and juicy. 



" The most remarkable circumstances connected with the 

 economy of this bird, are the fact of its not hatching its eggs 

 by incubation, and the means resorted to for effecting this ob- 

 ject, which, although in some degree assimilating to the 

 practice of the ostrich, are yet upon a totally different princi- 

 ple. The Wattled Talegalla collects together an immense 

 heap of decaying vegetable matter as a depositary for the eggs, 

 and trusts to the heat engendered by the process of decompo- 

 sition for the development of the young. The heap employed 

 for this purpose is collected by the birds during several weeks 

 previous to the period of laying ; it varies in size from two to 

 four cart-loads, and is of a perfectly pyramidal form. The 

 construction of the mound is not the work of one pair of birds, 

 but is effected by the united labors of several ; the same site 

 appears to me, from the great size and the entire decomposi- 

 tion of the lower part, to be resorted to for several years in 

 succession, the birds adding a fresh supply of materials on 

 each occasion previous to laying. 



"The mode in which the materials composing these mounds 

 are accumulated is equally singular the bird never using its 

 bill, but always grasping a quantity in its foot, throwing it 

 backwards to one common centre, and thus clearing the sur- 

 face of the ground for a considerable distance so completely, 

 that scarcely a leaf or a blade of grass is left. The heap be- 

 ing accumulated, and time allowed for a sufficient heat to be 

 engendered, the eggs are deposited, not side by side, as is 

 ordinarily the case, but planted at the distance of nine or 

 twelve inches from each other, and buried at nearly an arm's 



