THE MALLEE FOWL » 



Nesting mound usually in thick scrub, and frequently just 

 above high water-mark on the beach. It is then 

 mostly composed of sand, mixed with stones, roots and sticks, 

 while further inland earth takes the place of sand. There 

 is just sufficient vegetation included to provide in the processes 

 of decay the heat requisite for incubation. The birds add to the 

 mound every year; consequently old mounds attain a very 

 considerable size, being about 10 feet high and 25 feet in 

 circumference at the base. After a time they become so filled 

 with roots of the aggressive vegetation that the birds can no 

 longer work the soil, and are in consequence deserted. The 

 temperature of the part of the mound where the eggs are placed 

 is usually 95° F. Each egg is placed by the hen in a separate 

 hole, which she scratches out, at a depth of from 6 inches to 

 5 feet. The various holes are not placed in any particular order, 

 nor are they all of one depth. The white shell of the egg is 

 covered with a pink substance which easily fiakes off! when the 

 egg becomes dry. The young when hatched make their own way 

 out of the mounds, which they are able to do, since the parent 

 birds by frequent scratching prevent the soil from becoming 

 caked. Only one egg is laid in each excavation. The young 

 when first hatched are well feathered and can fly, roosting in 

 trees the first night. They lead at once an independent existence 

 and do not stay with their parents. The clutch of eggs is about 

 nine ; they are elongated, with the ends nearly alike, and measure 

 about 3.61 X 1.97 inches. 



Genus Lipoa. 



Upper tail coverts extend to the end of the tail. Head with 

 a short crest of feathers. 



The Mallee Fowl. 



lApoa ocellata. 



Southern and Western Australia. 



Top of head covered with dark brown feathers, forming a 

 short, thick crest; mantle grey, the lower feathers tipped with 

 rufous-brown; back, scapulars and wing-eoverts grey, with wide 

 sub-terminal brown band; lower back and upper tail-coverts grey 

 washed with brown, the latter barred with black, primaries pale brown, 

 tipped with white, mottled with black; breast grey, with band of black 



