310 THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



holes are completed, the feathered tailor next procures his thread, 

 which he takes care to choose of a sufficient length and solidity, 

 and begins to pass it through the holes, drawing the sides of 

 the leaf towards each other, so as to form a kind of pouch or 

 purse open above. Generally a single leaf is used for the pur- 

 pose, but whenever the bird cannot find one that is sufficiently 

 large, it sews two together, or even fetches another leaf and 

 fastens it with the fibre. Within the hollow thus formed, the 

 bird next deposits a quantity of soft down, and having com- 

 pleted her nest, leaps from branch to branch to testify her 

 happiness by a clear and merry note. 



The mounds in which the tallegalla or brush-turkey deposits 

 its eggs are in their way no less remarkable than the most in- 

 genious nests. Like the thatched dwellings of the republican 

 grosbeak, they are not the work of a single pair, but of a large 

 number of birds, who have been taught by a beautiful instinct 

 to direct their labours to a common end. Tracing a circle of 

 considerable radius, the birds begin to travel round it, continu- 

 ally grasping with their large feet the leaves and grasses and 

 dead twigs which are lying about, and flinging them inwards 

 towards the centre. Each time that they complete their rounds, 

 they narrow their circle, so as ultimately to form a large and 

 rudely conical mound. The heap being accumulated, and time 

 allowed for a sufficient heat to be engendered, the next process 

 is to form a cavity, in which the eggs, each measuring not less 

 than four inches in length an enormous size in comparison to 

 that of the bird are deposited, not side by side, as is ordinarily 

 the case, but planted or arranged perpendicularly, and nearly in a 

 circle, with the larger end upwards. They are then covered up, 

 and are hatched by the joint effects of fermentation and hot 

 sunbeams. By adopting this process the bird does not escape 

 any of the cares of paternity, for the male is very watchful 

 over the eggs, being gifted with a wonderful instinct, which 

 tells him what temperature is proper for them. Sometimes he 

 covers them with a thick layer of leaves, and sometimes he 

 lays them nearly bare, repeating these operations several times 

 in a single day. After six weeks of burial, the eggs give up 

 their chicks not feeble but full-fledged and strong, so that at 

 night they scrape holes for themselves, and lying down therein 

 are covered by the old birds, and thus remain until morning. 



