THE LEIPOA. 325 



It is usually found towards the north-west portions of Australia, 

 preferring sandy plains to any other localities. 



The mound which is made by the Leipoa is comparatively 

 small, being seldom more than eight or nine feet in diameter, 

 and a yard or so in height. It is made up of mixed sand, soil, 

 leaves and grass, and is sometimes so hard at its lowest portions, 

 that the hands become useless in digging out the eggs, and strong 

 tools are rec[uired. In each nest there are usually about a dozen 

 eggs, which are deposited singly in the moimd. One nest, how- 

 ever, will afford a large supply of eggs, just as is the case with 

 our domestic hens, for if her nest be repeatedly robbed, the bird 

 continues to lay for a very long time. The eggs are whitish, 

 slightly speckled with dull red. It is a curious fact that a 

 number of ants are always to be found about the nest of the 

 Leipoa, and their presence, together with the hard, strong sub- 

 stance of the lower part of the nest, would lead many persons to 

 suppose that the mound was nothing but a large ant-hiU. 



