196 
ALMOST HUMAN 
THE BRUSH TURKEY 
NOBODY WORKS BUT FATHER. 
There is a buzzard that is erroneously called a turkey, but the dis- 
tinction of being the only wild turkey in Australia belongs to the quaint 
little brush turkey of Northern Queensland. These turkeys are gregari- 
ous and live in colonies, and the male is a shameless polygamist. He 
takes his family duties very seriously as far as caring for his wives is 
concerned, but his fledglings know nothing of father or mother, and there 
is no attempt made by the parents to discover what becomes of the eggs 
once they are laid and carefully covered over in the remarkable hot bed 
they prepare with most extraordinary care. The colonies begin nesting 
at the time the silky oak begins to shed its leaves — that is, about the 
end of September, just when the English deciduous trees begin to sprout. 
These oak leaves lie about in great mounds, being shed by myriads at a 
time, and then the old male bird decides that the colony nest must be 
constructed. He changes from a leisurely bird into one of the fussiest 
creatures on earth, and like most people who get busy only occasionally, 
he cannot endure the thought of anyone enjoying the briefest repose 
while his fit of enthusiasm lasts. He chooses a suitable spot within 
easy reach of an abundance of leaves, and then he begins energetically 
collecting the material. All leaves within a radius of fifteen or twenty 
yards are scraped together in serviceable mounds, and when he has got 
one in a cone, he will shoot it far behind him by a mighty jerk of both 
his feet. Although the leaves have gone in a dense cloud for quite a 
respectable distance behind him, his first attempt does not satisfy his 
ardent, impatient spirit, and so he decides he must have help to complete 
the task. With a fine show of temper he rounds up his wives, who have 
been enjoying the first spring days in happy dalliance with the younger 
males, and orders them to lend a hand. They make a pretence of help- 
ing as long as he is watching, but as soon as he has recovered his breath 
and has gone to work again ahead of them all, they ease off and soon 
go back to their fun. In his absorption he does not notice the cessation 
of activities for a while, but presently the suspicious silence attracts his 
attention, and he looks back to see what they are about. The resultant 
explosion of wrath is terrific, and at first the delinquents think they 
have made a serious mess of things and landed themselves in tragedy. 
