220 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES 



shells, pretty pebbles, small bones, nuts, fungi, fruits, 

 parrots' feathers, beetles' wing-cases, etc. I once found 

 one on which the birds had hung green and red fruits 

 at both ends of the bower, making a wonderfully 

 pretty display. This bower is by no means a nest, but 

 merely a try sting-place or love-arbor. The birds run 

 through this arch, chasing each other ; the male chatter- 

 ing and singing, frequently stopping to pick up a shell 

 or feather to show the female what pretty things he 

 has gathered for her sake. Those who imagine animals 

 cannot think or feel as humans do, should see this love- 

 shrine made without hands, and watch the birds play 

 and dance about the home of their affections. This 

 bower-bird (there are several species) is about the size 

 of a robin, and of a dull brown color. 



The talegallus, or bush-turkey, is quite common in 

 the eastern peninsula, where we were ; and one fre- 

 quently meets with the mounds they construct. The 

 birds are about the size of a common fowl, of a dull 

 black color, and are gregarious. They raise immense 

 mounds of earth, leaves, and decayed wood in which to 

 deposit their eggs ; and a number of females lay in one 

 mound. These mounds, usually placed in a very thick 

 and gloomy part of the forest, are frequently twenty 

 to thirty feet across, and as high as a man's head. It 

 hardly seems possible that such a mass of materials 

 could have been accumulated by a few birds not larger 

 than hens; but a large mound has probably taken 



