270 CASSELLS BOOK OF BIRDS. 



consisting entirely of fallen fruits, can only be obtained by roaming over an extensive district ; so that 

 if the numbers which come down to this single beach in the breeding season, amounting to many 

 hundreds, were obliged to remain in the vicinity, many would perish of hunger." In the structure of 

 the feet of this bird we may detect a cause for its departing from the habits of its nearest allies, the 

 Megapodii and TalUgaHi, which heap up earth, leaves, stones, and sticks into a large mound, wlierein 

 they bury their eggs. The feet of the Maleo are not nearly so large or strong in proportion as in 

 these birds, while its claws are short and straight instead of being long and curved. The toes are, 

 however, strongly webbed at the base, forming a broad powerful foot, this, with the rather long leg, is 

 well adapted to scratch away the loose sand (which flies up in a perfect shower when the birds are at 

 work), but they could not, without much labour, accumulate the heaps of miscellaneous rubbish 

 brought together by the large grasping feet of the Megapodius. 



THE OCEL,LATED LEI PDA. 



The OcELLATED Leipoa {Leipoa ocellatd) has a slender body and a broad rounded wing, in 

 which the second quill exceeds the rest in length ; the tail, formed of fourteen feathers, is long, broad, 

 and much rounded ; the powerful foot is high, the beak comparatively small and straight. The colour 

 of the head and crest is blackish brown, of the neck and shoulders dark ash-grey ; the fore part of the 

 former, from the chin to the breast, is marked by a series of lanceolate feathers, which are black, with 

 a white stripe down the centre ; the back and wings are conspicuously marked with three distinct 

 bands of greyish white, brown, and black ; near the tip of each feather the marks assume an ocellate 

 form, particularly on the tips of the secondaries. The primaries are brown, their outer webs marked 

 with zigzag lines of darker brown ; the rump and upper tail-covers are brownish grey, the feathers of 

 the latter transversely marked with two or three zigzag lines near their tip ; all the under surface 

 is light buff; the tips of the flank-feathers are barred with black; the tail is blackish brown, broadly 

 tipped with buff"; the bill black, and the foot blackish brown. 



" The Ocelhted Leipoa," says Gould, " appears to be more peculiarly suited for a plain and 

 open country than for the tangled brush ; and it is most curious to observe how beautifully the means 

 employed by Nature for the reproduction of the species is adapted to the situations it is destined to 

 inhabit." The following sketches of its economy, so far as it has yet been ascertained, were given 

 me by Gilbert and Sir George Grey, and are here reproduced in their own words : — 



"Wongan Hills, Western Australia, September 28, 1842. 

 "This morning I had the good fortune to penetrate into the dense thicket I had so long been 

 anxious to visit in search of the Leipoa's eggs, and had not proceeded far before the native who was 

 ^yith me told me to keep a good look out, as we were among the Ngou-oo's hillocks ; and in half an 

 hour after, we found one, around which the brush was so thick that we were almost running over it 

 before seeing it. So anxious was I to see the hidden treasures within that, in my haste, I threw aside 

 the black fellow and began scraping off the upper part of the mound ; this did not please him at all, 

 and he became very indignant, at the same time making me understand that as I had never seen this 

 nest before, I had better trust him to get out the eggs, or I should, in my haste and impatience, 

 certainly break them. I therefore let him have his own way, and he began scraping off" the earth very 

 carefully from the centre, throwing it over the side, so that the mound very soon presented the 

 appearance of a huge basin. About two feet in depth of earth was in this way throivn off, when the 

 large ends of two eggs met my anxious gaze ; both these eggs were resting on their smaller apex, and 

 the earth round them had to be very carefully removed to avoid breaking the shell, which is extremely 

 fragile when first exposed to the atmosphere. About a hundred yards from this first mound, we came 



