might be domesticated. Its eggs are said to be delicious eating, and they are much sought after. Mr. Gould adds that they are in the habit of resorting to the branches of trees, as a shelter from the mid-day sun, at which time they will allow a succession of shots to be fired at them, until they are all brought down. Unless some measure, therefore, is adopted for their preservation, this circumstance must lead to an early extinction of the race.

The habits also of the Ocellated Leipoa (Leipoa ocellata) are equally curious. It is found in the little-explored regions of Australia, and its favourite country appears to be the barren sandy plains of the interior. It is a ground bird, never taking to a tree except when closely hunted. In examining its habits, it is most curious to observe how beautifully the means, employed by nature for the reproduction of the species, are adapted to the situations it is destined to inhabit. In its actions and manner it is very like the domestic fowl and about the same size. It deposits its eggs in a mound of sand, the formation of which is the work of both sexes. They scratch up the sand for many yards around, forming a mound of about three feet in height; the inside being constructed of alternate layers of dried leaves, grasses, &c., amongst which the eggs are deposited to the number of twelve or upwards,

and covered up by the birds as they lay them. The bird never sits upon the eggs, but when she has laid her number, the whole are covered up, after which the mound of sand resembles an ant's nest. The eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun's rays, the vegetable lining of the hillock retaining sufficient warmth during the night. The eggs are deposited in layers; no two eggs being suffered to lie without a division. In opening the mounds, ants are found almost as numerous as in an ant-hill. These insects may not improbably add to the warmth, but serve as a ready supply of food for the young birds when they get from their place of confinement. It is not a little extraordinary that they should be able to accomplish this, as in many instances it was found that the part of the mound, surrounding the lower portion of the eggs, had become so hard, that it was necessary to chip round them with a chisel in order to get them out. The insides of the mound are always hot. found where the soil is

These nests are always dry and sandy, and so species of dwarf plant,

thickly wooded with a (Leptospermum) that in straying from the native paths, it is almost impossible to force a way through. In these close scrubby woods, small open glades occasionally occur, and here the bird constructs its nest, which is sometimes nine feet in diameter.

I am indebted to Mr. Gould for a description. of the two birds abovementioned, but he has introduced a third of the same family still more interesting, called the "Mound raising Megapode." (Megapodius tumulus). The account is taken from Mr. Gilbert's notes, which were communicated to Mr. Gould.

On Mr. Gilbert's arriving at Port Essington, his attention was attracted to numerous immense mounds of earth, which the natives informed him were made by the Jungle-fowl for the purpose of hatching its eggs. Aware that the eggs of the Leipoa were hatched in a similar manner, he determined to ascertain all he possibly could on the subject, and having procured the assistance of a very intelligent native, who was acquainted with the places resorted to by the jungle-fowl, he proceeded to Knocker's Bay, where he was informed a number of these birds was always to be seen. On landing beside a thicket, he had not proceeded far from the shore, before a mound of sand and shells, with a slight mixture of black soil, was seen. The base rested on a sandy beech, only a few feet above high water-mark. It was enveloped in the large yellow-blossomed hibiscus, was of a conical form, twenty feet in circumference at the base, and about five feet in height. On asking the native what it was, he replied, it was the jungle-fowl's house or nest. On scrambling up the sides of it,

a young bird was found in a hole about two feet deep. It was lying on a few dry withered leaves, and appeared to be only a few days old. So far Mr. Gilbert was satisfied, that these mounds had some connection with the bird's mode of incubation, but he was still sceptical as to the probability of these young birds ascending from so great a depth as the natives represented, and his suspicions were confirmed by his being unable to induce the native, in this instance, to search for the eggs, his excuse being that "he knew it would be of no use, as he saw no traces of the old birds having recently been there." He took the greatest care of the young bird, intending to rear it if possible. It was plain a box, having a large portion of sand in it. It fed rather freely on bruised Indian corn, but proved of so wild and intractable a disposition, that it would not reconcile itself to such close confinement, and effected its escape the third day. During the period it remained in captivity, it was incessantly occupied in scratching up the sand into heaps, and the rapidity, with which it threw the sand from one end of the box to the other, was quite surprising for so young and small a bird, its size not being larger than that of a small quail. At night it was so restless, that he was constantly kept awake by the noise it made in its endeavours to escape. In scratching up the sand it only used

one foot, and having grasped a handful as it were, the sand was thrown behind it, with but little apparent exertion, and without shifting its standing position on the other leg. This habit seemed to be the result of an innate restless disposition, and a desire to use its powerful feet, and to have but little connexion with its feeding; for while thus employed, it was never seen picking up any of the corn which was mixed with the sand.

On his next visit to Knocker's Bay, Mr. Gilbert had the gratification of seeing two eggs taken from one of the mounds at a depth of six feet, it being one of the largest he had seen. In this instance, the holes ran down in an oblique direction from the centre towards the outer slope of the hillock; so that, although the eggs were six feet deep from the summit, they were only two or three feet from the side. The birds are said to lay only one egg in each hole, and after the egg is deposited, the earth is immediately thrown down lightly until the hole is filled up; the upper part of the mound is then smoothed and rounded over. It is easily known, when a Jungle-fowl has been recently excavating, from the distinct impressions of its feet on the top and sides of the mound, and the earth being so lightly thrown over, that with a slender stick the direction of the hole is readily detected; the ease, or difficulty of thrusting the stick down, indicating the length of time that may have elapsed