258 ' THE UNIVERSE. 



foresight as that of whicli Ave haA'e been speaking ; but, 

 instead of building mounds, it is a sturdy gleaner. The 

 Talegalla Lathami, for so it is called, is of the size and 

 has the look of a fowl, and builds its nest with grass Avhich 

 it gleans in the fields, and of Avhich it gathers an enormous 

 heap, comparable, indeed, to the cocks Avhich our hay- 

 makers form in the meadows. But it is not Avith its beak, 

 it is Avith its claAvs that it Avorks. By means of one of 

 them it collects a little bottle of hay, AAdiich it grasps in its 

 toes ; this it carries to its nest, hopping along uj^on the 

 other foot. When, as a result of innumerable journeys, 

 the heap has groAvn large enough, the female lays its eggs 

 in it. KnoAving as Avell as aa^c do that hay heats by dr}^- 

 ing, it relies ujDon the AA'armth for the incubation of its 

 brood, Avhich it abandons immediately after laying. The 

 young Talegalla3 are also born as completely feathered as 

 the others, and just as able to shift for themselves Avhen 

 they issue from the egg. Hence, a fcAv minutes after 

 having scattered about the cjuilting which surrounds them, 

 they take flight. 



A little rodent of the Silierian Alj^s, the Lagom3fs, the 

 size of Avhicli does not equal that of a rabbit, accumulates 

 similar heaps of hay as much as five feet high and eight 

 feet in diameter. The Tartars frequently appi'opriate the 

 fruits of its labour in order to feed their horses. Some 

 day perhaps man Avill in the same Avay make use of 

 the nests of the Talegalla^, Avhich arc even more lal^orious 

 gleaners. 



