510 
TAME M00RUKS. 
unpacked, squatting down on each side, most intently watching the process, and occasionally 
pecking at the straw and contents. 
“ When the carpenter was in the yard, making some alteration in the cage of these birds, 
it was very amusing to see them squat down upon their tarsi, like dogs, watching the man, 
with the greatest apparent interest in all his actions, enjoying the hammering noise, and occa- 
sionally picking up a nail, which was not in this instance swallowed, but again dropped ; one 
one of them swallowed his ‘oilstone,’ which so alarmed the man that he considered the bird 
had committed suicide, and hurried to inform me of the circumstance, when, to his surprise, I 
told him if he did not take care they would swallow his hammer, nails, and chisel. The birds 
kept close to the man until he left for dinner, when they went about the yard as usual, resum- 
ing their position near him as soon as he returned to his work, and not leaving until he had 
finished. 
“ These birds invariably retire to roost at dusk, and nothing more is seen or heard of them 
until daylight, as they never leave their usual roosting-place after retiring ; indeed, their usual 
time of roosting is as soon as the sun is on the verge of setting, even before the poultry depart ; 
and on looking at them about this time in their retirement, they utter their usual greeting 
chirps, and one may be observed reposing upon the breast, the other upon the tarsi. The 
door may be safely left open during the night, as they will not move, nor leave their sleeping- 
place, until the dawn of day. If, during any hour of the night, I approached their resting- 
place, they immediately greeted me with, their peculiar chirping noise, being evidently, like 
geese, very watchful, or, according to the common saying, ‘sleeping with one eye open;’ 
wdien gazed at, they not only chirped, but, if I continued too long, I was saluted by a loud 
growl. 
“ One morning the male Mooruk was missing, and was found in the bedroom upstairs, 
drinking water out of the water- jug. There were some silkworms in the room at the time, but 
they were fortunately covered ; otherwise, I have no doubt, he would have made a meal of 
them. The same bird swallowed a bung-cork which measured one and a half inch in diameter ; 
indeed they both seem to swallow anything from butter and eggs to iron, in the form of small 
bolts or nails and stones. The bird did not appear well ; he was sulky and heavy all day ; and 
when, in this sickly state, any one approached him, instead of being greeted with a cheerful 
chirping, he uttered a loud sulky growl ; we were afraid he was dying. On the following day 
he was as lively as ever, having passed the cork in a perfectly undigested state. 
“To show how dangerous it was to leave any object capable of being swallowed, I will 
relate the following occurrence : The servant was starching some muslin cuffs, and having com- 
pleted one and hung it up to dry, she was about to finish the other, when, hearing the bell 
ring, she squeezed up the cuff, threw it into the starch, and attended to the summons. On her 
return the cuff was gone, and she could not imagine who had taken it during her brief absence, 
when she discovered that the Mooruk was the thief, its beak and head being covered with 
starch ; he had without doubt swallowed it. This occurred at eleven a. m., and at half -past 
five p. m. the cuff was passed, quite undigested and uninjured, and with a little washing was 
as good as ever. 
“They could not digest unboiled potato. Maize, or any unboiled grain, was likewise 
indigestible. When a piece of bread was offered them at a height beyond their reach, they 
would first stretch up the body and neck as much as possible, and then, finding they could not 
get it, they would jump up for it like a dog. They were frequently seen running and tumbling 
about the yard together in high spirits. It is well to warn persons, inclined to keep these 
birds as pets, of their insatiable propensities. When about the house, they displayed extraordi- 
nary delight in a variety of diet ; for, as I have previously related, one day they satisfied their 
appetites with bones, whetstones, corks, nails, and raw potatoes, most of which passed per- 
fectly undigested ; one dived into thick starch and devoured a muslin cuff, whilst the other 
evinced a great partiality for nails and pebbles; then they stole the jabiru’s meat from the 
water. If eggs and butter were left upon the kitchen-table, they were soon devoured by these 
marauders ; and when the servants were at their dinner in the kitchen, they hao to be very 
watchful, for the long necks of the birds appeared between their arms, devouring everything 
