.1. VIII. 



igog 



] Mattingley, Thermometer-Bird or Mallee-Foivl. IIQ 



joined by the other chicks of the same mound when they have 

 effected an escape from it. The old birds have never been 

 observed to assist the young ones in the search for food, and have 

 never been found accompanying them, hence the young lead an 

 independent existence from their birth. Until they are about 

 half-grown the young ones camp at night in the centre of a thick 

 bush, a place where they also take shelter during the daytime. 

 When about half-grown they begin to perch in the trees at night, 

 and are then safe from ground enemies, which up to this time 

 take a heavy toll of the immature birds. It is exceedingly difficult 

 to capture the chicks, and the plan adopted to obtain them is to 

 enclose the mound with fine mesh wire-netting in the months of 

 November, December, or January, leaving a space of about 2 feet 

 clear on all sides of the mound. Then put a quantity of small 

 boughs inside the netting, so that when the young ones come out 

 they can get cover close at hand to protect them from Hawks. 

 The chicks are fond of bird-seed, and this is placed inside the 

 netting. When this cage is ready, obtain a few stout sticks and 

 lean them against the top of the wire on the outside, for the old 

 ones will walk up them and jump in, and so attend to the mound 

 and keep it loose. When it is thus ringed with netting, the old 

 ones will not fly into it, but they will fly out readily enough from 

 the crown of the mound. If the old birds are shut out from the 

 mound the chicks become smothered in the shell, as the mound 

 becomes hard and impervious to the oxygen of the air. Once 

 the chicks are hatched in this way the old birds pay no further 

 attention to them. 



The general colour of the dorsal surface of the downy plumage 

 of the young bird shortly after leaving the mound is a mottled 

 rufous-brown, whilst the ventral surface is an ashy cream-buff. 

 The legs and feet are well developed and strong, and the toes 

 are provided with long and powerful claws, capable of scratching 

 vigorously for food. The tarsus measures i inch in length ; 

 middle toe, 1.06 inches; nail, ,27 of an inch; hallux, .61 of 

 an inch ; the bill, .47 of an inch long. The primaries and 

 secondaries, which are the flight feathers of the wing, are fully 

 developed, and are of a brown colour, barred with white. The 

 wing measures 3.93 inches in length. The wing coverts, which 

 are of a downy nature, are brown, mottled with white. The 

 downy feathers situated on the flanks and abdominal surfaces and 

 throat are a creamy-buff. The lores, auriculars, and forehead 

 feathers, which are also downy, are a brownish cream-buff. 

 Crown, nape, back, and rump feathers are a light mottled brown, 

 washed with buff. The tail, which is downy, is a light brown, 

 barred with white on the dorsal surface, and is an inch long, 

 whilst the ventral surface is somewhat lighter in colour. The 

 breast, which has a mottled appearance and is downy, is an 

 ashy-buff, whilst the sides are somewhat similar in colour, only 



