MALLEE FOWL. 
delicate colour that it was quite fresh. I left the nest open, and having 
occasion to repass it about two hours afterwards to revisit it, I found the bird 
had, in my absence, made it up again. Thinking it might be possible that the 
egg I had taken was not of that morning’s laying, and that whilst I was away 
the bird laid another, I again opened the nest, but there was but the two eggs. 
On this occasion I opened the mound to a much greater extent, drawing the 
sand back to a considerable distance and again leaving it open. Shortly 
before sundown I returned to the nest again, and found all damages repaired. 
“ As the process of incubation progresses, these visits have an additional 
motive, viz., that of assisting any young bird out of the superincumbent mass 
by opening the nest ; but that this is absolutely necessary so far as the chick 
is concerned, I do not believe, for on many occasions when opening nests 
I have found the chick so near the surface that a few minutes more would have 
effected its hberation unaided, and if it could, by its own exertions, come up 
from the lower layer, it could certainly have passed through the few inches of 
loose sand between it and the exterior of the mound, and from careful 
observations on this point I am convinced that the chick can liberate itself. 
The egg is of large size, consequently the chick is large and possessed of 
considerable strength, and on emerging from the shell, which is extremely 
fragile, its natural instincts prompt it to struggle for air and light ; its 
struggles displace the sand, which runs down beneath the bird, and thus 
gradually it gets higher and higher. Its passage through the warm, dry sand 
completely removes any moisture clinging to it on emerging from the shell, 
and, when at last it reaches the summit of the mound, it is a fully-developed 
bird, able to fly, run, and take care of itself, which, in fact, it has to do, for the 
old bird, having so far conformed to maternal instincts as to assist it in getting out 
of the nest, now totally ignores its presence ; whilst the young one, equally 
devoid of affectionate instincts, evinces fear of its parent and quickly runs 
off amongst the dense ‘ porcupine grass,’ and commences its lonely existence ; 
for lonely this bird decidedly is, leading a solitary life ; for, except at the 
period of incubation, it is very rarely that two are seen together, and when met 
with quietly feeding, its actions are suggestive of melancholy, for it has none of 
the livehness that characterises almost all other birds, but stalks ajfong in a 
solemn manner as if the dreary nature of its surroundings and its solitary life 
weighed heavily on its spirits. Its note (not often uttered) is a most mournful 
sound, something like that of a bronze-winged pigeon, but much louder and 
each note much more prolonged. The food of this bird consists of insects, the 
seeds and berries of various shrubs, and the tender shoots of plants. In its wild 
state it is entirely independent of water, but will sometimes drink when 
domesticated. It is easily domesticated, but evinces no intelligence or 
affection, and its habits and actions are marked by the same cheerlessness and 
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