348 THE WATTLED TALEGALLA, 



account of its habits and mode of incubating ; adding, that 

 in all the mounds they opened, they found ants almost as 

 numerous as in an ant-hill, and that in many instances that 

 part of the mound surrounding the lower portion of the eggs 

 had become so hard, they were obliged to chip round them 

 with a chisel to get them out : the inside of the mounds were 

 always hot. 



" ' The farthest point north/ says Captain Grey, ' at which I 

 have seen the breeding places of this bird, is Gantheaume Bay. 

 The natives of King George's Sound say the same, or a nearly- 

 allied species, exists in that neighborhood. I have never 

 fallen in with its nest but in one description of country, viz., 

 where the soil was dry and sandy, and so thickly wooded 

 with a species of dwarf Leptospermum, that if you stray from 

 the native paths, it is almost impossible to force your way 

 through. In these close scrubby woods small open glades oc- 

 casionally occur, and here the Ngow-oo constructs its nest, a 

 large heap of sand, dead grass and boughs, at least nine feet 

 in diameter, and three feet in height : I have seen them even 

 larger than this. Upon one occasion only I saw eggs in these 

 nests ; they were placed some distance from each other, and 

 buried in the earth. I am not sure of the number, but the 

 account given by the natives led me to believe that at times 

 large numbers are found.' 



" The Ocellated Leipoa is altogether a more slender and 

 elegantly formed bird than the Wattled Talegalla, and more- 

 over differs from that bird in having the head and neck thickly 

 clothed with feathers, and in being adorned with a beautifully 

 variegated style of coloring. 7 ' 



The circumstance of these two birds constructing an 

 "Eccaleobion," in which to mature their eggs, is not a little 

 remarkable. We are indeed, as Mr. Gould observes, reminded 

 of the ostrich. But the ostrich, of which several females com- 

 bine to make a shallow dish, or bowl in the sand, for the 

 common reception of their eggs, incubates, at least in South- 

 ern Africa, like other birds, the females relieving each other 

 during the day, and the male taking his turn at night; and 



