Page:Bird-lore Vol 05.djvu/22

 The Mound-Building Birds of Australia 7

- to lay, her head and neck only being visible above ground. All the time she was occupied in the mound, the male persecuted her, apparently en- deavoring to drive her away. As soon as the egg was laid. the male at once scraped a few leaves. etc. into the hole, and. getting in. trampled them well down around the egg, which he fixed in a perpendicular posi-

EGG- .\iuL\u 1)} 'rm: mu SH 'n RKH \Culllllmiul Fvn'u a phumgmm. In .-\. J. Campbell

tion. The operation of scraping in debris was repeated several times. until the hole was ﬁlled.

The Scrub Fowl, or Megapode (111CEII/lﬂlll‘llf rlupcrrryi), as a mound- builder (especially in the matter of great dimensions) is even a more ex- traordinary bird than either the Mallee Fowl or the Brush Turkey. The Megapode. which resembles a dun-colored domestic fowl with big feet. is restricted to the dense thickets of the northern coast of Australia. while its extra-Australian habitat extends to New Guinea and many Austro— Malayan islands.

On the opposite side of the creek to my North Queensland camps. Megapodes, on going to roost at evening. kept the scrub alive with their loud, chuckling calls, which were sometimes continued far into the night. especially if it was moonlight. In the thick labyrinth of undergrowth on the adjacent Barnard Islands, I came across many Scrub Fowls' mounds. each resembling so many cart—loads of sandy soil thrown together. and mixed with rotten vegetation. They were cone—shaped and of medium