REMINISCENCES FROM THE MELBOURNE ZOO. 
199 
watched it all eagerly, and even seemed sometimes as if he would lend 
a hand, but on second thoughts he decided to leave them to their own 
devices. When all was finished, and the last loose leaf satisfactorily 
cleared up, the little bird only waited until the men were outside his 
fence to set to work energetically and pull it all to pieces. He did not 
relax his efforts until he had the whole of the material scattered far and 
wide about his grounds, and as that took less than half the time it took 
the men to put it together, they did not watch his zeal with anything 
like pleasure. When he was satisfied there was not a trace of their 
handiwork left, he began to build one more to his liking, in another part 
of the plot, and used up every scrap of their material, which he seemed 
to find especial pleasure in hunting out of every odd corner he had sent 
it to in his work of devastation. There was a big difference, in his 
eyes, between the first and the second mound. The first structure was 
imitation; his was the real thing, and from the real thing emerged the 
first brood of wild turkey chicks hatched in Victoria. Since then the 
men have not attempted to relieve a brush turkey of the task of building 
the nest for his offspring. 
There was a crippled turkey at the Zoo for some time but he died 
while these stories were being written, and before his photograph could 
be taken. Despite his broken leg he managed to build a nest in the 
Spring; apparently by instinctive compulsion, for he had no mate. The 
gardeners offered no objections to his labors and provided him with all 
the silky oak leaves he required, for he constructed a huge bed of perfect 
material for forcing young plants. He did not in the least resent their 
removal of it when the season was past. 
