Page:Acclimatisation; its eminent adaptation to Australia.djvu/29

27 In the talegalla we seem to approach the reptilian character, not only in the form and general appearance of the eggs, but in the manner in which they are deposited and the absence of care bestowed upon the young. I believe, with this exception, all birds feed or provide for their young; while, on the other hand, I am not aware any reptile is known to do so, and that all the reptiles that lay eggs leave them to hatch, and the young to provide for themselves—their young, as in the talegalla, coming forth in a very perfect and well-developed condition, and being enabled to seek and obtain their food without the aid of the parents. It is for this reason, as I have before remarked, the family megapodidæ are placed in the lowest form of birds. I regret to hear, by my last letters from England, from the Secretary of the Zoological Society, and Mr. Alfred Denison, that the only male bird in the possession of the Society is dead, and all survivors are females. This is more to he regretted, as they had commenced with success to acclimatise them in England. Those gentlemen have requested me to endeavour to procure them some young males. Now, had we an Acclimatisation Society established in Sydney, we could readily supply them, receiving in exchange mandarin ducks or Himalayan pheasants. There is an anecdote related connected with this bird which may he quoted as illustrative of the theoretic study of natural history not supported by reference to the living hook of nature. "Because the talegalla had a bare head and rather straight claws, was black in colour, with some brilliant skin about the region of the neck, he was pronounced to be an excellent vulture by a theorist who lacked a type to fill a vacancy in some triangular, circular, or oval scheme, in which he had firmly convinced himself all nature and every group could be thrust. Now, the bare head of the talegalla is convenient for plunging into the decayed leaves of the mounds; the bristly hairs which protect it throw off all impurity and moisture much better than feathers would do; and the strong, straight claws and gigantic feet are not intended to deal with carrion, but are most exquisitely adapted for picking up the grass, leaves, and earth, which he has to throw from long distances to the central mound. The mystery, which is so simply resolved by observation, could never have been divined in a gallery of skins.

Another remarkable bird, native of New South Wales, is the menura superba, "lyre bird or pheasant of the colonists." For a long time this bird divided ornithologists as to the situation it should occupy in the natural system, and for upwards of fifty