THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 253 



matter. A bird, the Mound-building Megapodius, accom- 

 plishes by itself a task a thousand times greater. 



It has the carriage and size of a jiartridge, and its 

 modest brown robe recalls the sombre colours of almost all 

 the birds of its country, Australia, that land of zoological 

 marvels, but its labours and its intelligence soon make us 

 forget the mournful 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. It begins by getting together a thick bed 

 of leaves, branches, and plants : then it heaps \i]) earth and 

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

 form an enormous crater-like tumulus, concave in the 

 middle; the place where alone the materials first collected 

 remain uncovered. One of these nests, the dimensions of 

 which are given by the illustrious ornithologist Gould, 

 was 14 feet high, and presented a circumference of 150 

 feet. Compared to the size of the bird, the dimensions of 

 such a mountain are almost prodigious, and we ask how, 

 with its beak and claws only for pickaxe and entire means 



151. Nest of the Tumulus-building Megapodius, vertical section.— From Gould. 



of transport, it contrives to get together such a mass of 

 materials ! The celebrated tumulus of Achilles, and that 

 of Patroclus, assuredly demanded less labour at the hands 

 of man. 



Were we to try to establish a comparison between the 



