THE MALLEE-BIRD 



of the ornithological novelties which had been discovered 

 during the exploration of the western and southern portions 

 of the great island-continent. A description of its remark- 

 able habits was sent to him towards the middle of the last 

 century by Gilbert and Sir George Grey. One September 

 morning Gilbert started out to search for the eggs of this 

 bird, taking with him a native guide. After penetrating 

 into the bush for half an hour they came upon one of the 

 hillocks in a place where the thicket was so dense that they 

 were "almost running over it before seeing it.* Gilbert was 

 very impatient to discover the hidden treasures and began 

 hurriedly scraping away the upper part of the mound, 

 greatly to the annoyance of the black-fellow, who made him 

 understand that as he was not accustomed to opening a mallee- 

 bird's mound he was pretty sure to break the eggs in his 

 impatience. Gilbert therefore made way for his companion, 

 who began scraping off the earth very carefully from the 

 centre and throwing it over the side, so that the mound was 

 soon transformed into a sort of huge basin. When the 

 earth had been removed to a depth of about two feet, they 

 came upon two eggs placed in an upright position with the 

 thin end downwards. These were removed with great care, 

 because the shells are very fragile when first exposed to the 

 air ; indeed, they are so thin and brittle that it is practically 

 impossible to hatch these eggs under a domestic fowl, because 

 the bird almost invariably breaks them. 



About a hundred yards from the first mound they came 

 upon another, somewhat larger, which contained three eggs. 

 It proved to be rather too early in the season, however, for 

 Gilbert's purpose, for none of the other mounds they opened 

 contained any eggs at all. 



The place where Gilbert found these ( nests ' was amongst 

 gravelly hills clothed with a dense forest of eucalyptus trees 



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