BRUSH TURKEY. 
Adult female. Similar to the male, distinguished only by the absence of the wattle at the 
base of the neck. “ Bill black, iris brownish white ; feet yellow ” (E. Olive). Total 
length, 577 mm. ; culmen, 24 ; wing, 291 ; tail, 210 ; tarsus, 77. 
Young (British Museum). Covered with down of a dark fulvous-brown colour, with some 
black feathers appearing on the back ; wings and tail black, and the feathers on the 
under-surface of the same colour, with whitish margins, as in the adult bird. 
Chick (British Museum). Has the down much lighter colour, wing-feathers pale brown 
with paler margins. Under-surface of body more inclining to whitish. 
Nest. “ A large rotund mound of earth, chiefly black vegetable mould, with an admixture 
of decaying matter, some of the mounds being surrounded with sticks. Usually situated 
in dense scrub or forest. Dimensions about 12 feet in diameter at the base, or a cir- 
cumference of about 34 to 36 feet, and height about feet ” (Campbell). 
Eggs. “ Complement to a mound, if used by a pair of birds, twelve to fifteen ; if used by 
several birds, i.e., three pairs, thirty-five to thirty-six ; eUiptical in shape, while some 
are more or less compressed at one end ; texture of shell coarse ; surface without 
gloss, and rough ; colour pure white, more or less stained with the earth of the mound. 
Dimensions in inches 3.85 to 3.5 by 2.42 to 2.38 ” (Campbell). 
Breeding season. September to January (Ramsay). 
Incubation-period. About forty-two days (Le Souef). 
In 1821 Latham, in the first volume of his General History of Birds, p. 32, described 
this bird as a Vulture and gave a coloured figure of it, from a drawing given to 
him by General Davies. Latham says that when General Davies gave him 
the drawing and told him it was a Vulture he had doubts as to the correctness 
of this. These doubts were confirmed when Lord Stanley gave him a specimen 
to examine. He then proposed that it should form a new genus and suggested 
the name of Alectura for it. A proper and detailed diagnosis was given by 
Gray in the Zoological Miscellany. He adopted Latham’s generic name and 
called the bird Alectura lathami. 
As Alectura was considered too much hke Alectrurus of Vieillot, Swainson’s 
name of Gatheturus was adopted, but I do not consider this change necessary. 
Mr. Bartlett gives the following notes of this bird in captivity “ These 
birds formed a large mound of leaves, grass, earth, and other materials, in 
the Zoological Gardens, London, in 1860, during the spring and summer. On 
the morning of the 26th August a young Talegalla crept out of the mound, 
and, quite regardless of its parents, ran about searching for worms and other 
insects, upon which it fed with as much adroitness and apparent knowledge 
as the chick of a common fowl would exhibit at a month old. 
“ Towards night this young bird flew about the branches of the trees 
and shrubs in search of a safe roosting-place, and, having selected one about 6 feet 
from the ground, settled down and appeared as comfortable and unconcerned 
as an adult bird, — the female taking no further notice whatever of her offspring. 
“ Upon carefully looking into the mound two days afterwards (on the 
28th), I observed a second young bird moving about and busily engaged cleaning 
its feathers with its bill, the wing feathers at that time being encased in quill- 
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