240 THE UNIVERSE. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE INSTINCT OF CHEMISTRY. MOUNTAIN BUILDERS AND 



GLEANERS. 



SOME birds attract attention by the size of their construc- 

 tions, and by the innate notions which they seem to have of 

 certain chemical phenomena which we see them make ex- 

 actly the right use of. 



An earthen mound in an English garden astonishes us 

 by its dimensions, and the labor which it demands. Many 

 hands and much time have been occupied with it, and yet, 

 if we compare the work with the means of him who orders 

 it to be formed, this mass of earth seems but a small mat- 

 ter. A bird, the Mound-Building Megapodius, accomplishes 

 by itself a task a thousand times greater. 



It has the carriage and size of a partridge, and its modest 

 brown robe recalls the sombre colors of almost all the birds 

 of its country, Australia, that land of zoological marvels, 

 but its labors and its intelligence soon make us forget the 

 inat tractive aspect of the workman. 



The nidification of this species is a truly herculean work, 

 and one would not credit it were it not attested by the most 

 authentic evidence. 



The immense structure built by the Megapodius rests on 

 the ground. The bird begins by getting together a thick 

 bed of leaves, branches, and plants ; then it heaps up earth 

 and stones, and strews them round about in such a way as 

 to form an enormous crater-like tumulus, concave in the 



