120 Dr. E. Hopkinson—The Breeding of the Mallee Foivl


tumble to the ground without sustaining the slightest injury. Amongst

the rare Ducks may be seen the Hottentot Teal and the strange -

looking White-backed Duck of South Africa and Madagascar which

hatched young last year.


There are rare Geese, too. A lovely pair of Emperor Geese, the very

attractive Orinoco Goose, and Blue and White Snow Geese, while in

an inner enclosure in the wooded part of this large naturalist’s paradise

Australian Brush Turkeys are busy with their mound.


Such is a brief and very inadequate description of this wonderful

Park to which, by the kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Ezra, the members

of the Avicultural Society paid one of a series of much-appreciated

annual visits on 28th May.



THE BREEDING OF THE MALLEE FOWL

{LEIFOA OCELLATA )


By Dr. E. Hopkinson, C.M.G., etc.


When Records of Breeding in Captivity was published in 1926,

I knew nothing of any record for this bird, but I now find that its

omission was a result of ignorance, for in its native country it has

been bred in captivity for several years previously, first by

Mr. Bedchambers, and later by Mr. Downer.


On a recent visit to Australia I had the pleasure of meeting the

last-named, an old resident and a great exponent of sport in all forms,

shooting, racing, polo, etc., and a great authority on everything to do

with Australia’s fauna. He took me out to his delightful house in the

suburbs of Adelaide, and there I saw the breeding Mallee Fowl.


They inhabited one of a pair of pens (the other contained Brush

Turkeys) measuring about 15 by 4 yards. The stock consisted of

a pair of old birds and five young of varying ages. The mound from

which they came occupied one end of the enclosure, and as the owner

thought that another young bird was overdue to appear, he made my

visit an occasion for digging into the mound, and there sure enough

was a fully feathered young bird about 6 inches down, which had

evidently died in its struggle to reach the surface.



