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Genus TateGauua, Less.
440. Talegalla Lathami . : . : ; ; : : : : : Viole Ve lela ad

Inhabits all the brushes and scrubby forests of the eastern parts of Australia. Mr. M‘Gillivray informs me,

in a letter lately received from him, dated on board H.M.S. “ Rattlesnake,”’ February 6th, 1848, “ At Port Molle I

 

shot in the brushes both Megapodius and Talegalla,” which proves that the range of the latter bird is much greater

than I have stated.

Genus Leipoa, Gould.
Generic characters.
Bill nearly as long as the head, slender, swollen at the base; tomia undulating, and curving downwards ;
nostrils large, oblong, defended by an operculum and placed in the centre of a groove; head sub-crested; wings

large, round and concave ; the first five primaries equal and longest ; tertiaries nearly as long as the primaries ; tail

 

round and composed of fourteen feathers ; ¢arsi moderately robust, scutellated in front, posteriorly defended with

round scales ; toes somewhat short ; the lateral toes nearly equal in length.

 

441. Leipoa ocellata, Gould. : : : ; : Wolk Wo TAL 76).
Since I wrote my account of this bird, it has been found to be abundantly dispersed over all parts of the
Murray Scrub in South Australia.
The following highly interesting account has been forwarded to me by His Excellency Captain Sir George Grey,

being the result of his observations of the bird made while Governor of South Australia :—

“My pear Mr. GouLD, * Government House, Adelaide, December 12th, 1842.

“TI have lately returned from the Murray, where I have been studying the habits and manners of the Leipoa

ocellata, which is very plentiful in the sandy districts of the Scrub. The eyes of the living bird are of a bright,

 

light hazel; its legs and feet dark brown, but not so dark as shown in your Plate; whilst the bare parts on the
head and face are of a very delicate and clear blue. The gizzard is very large and muscular; the inner coats
peculiarly horny and hard. Its food consists chiefly of insects, such as Phasmide and a species of Cimew ; it also
feeds on the seeds of various shrubs. The entire lungs and intestines of the one which I dissected were full of
Tenioides. J have never seen any other animal infested with them to anything like the same extent, and yet the
bird was perfectly healthy. It possesses the power of running with extraordinary rapidity ; it roosts at night on
trees, and never flies if it can avoid so doing ;—the male bird weighs about four pounds and a half.

“The mounds they construct are from 12 to 13 yards in circumference at the base, and from 2 to 3 feet in
height ; the general form being that of adome. The sand and grass are sometimes scraped up for a distance of
from 15 to 16 feet from its outer edge.

“The mound appears to be constructed as follows: a nearly circular hole of about 18 inches in diameter, is
scratched in the ground to the depth of 7 or 8 inches, and filled with dead leaves, dead grass and similar materials ;
and a large mass of the same substances is placed all round it upon the ground. Over this first layer a large
mound of sand, mixed with dried grass, &c., is thrown, and finally the whole assumes the form of a dome, as I
have before stated.

“When an egg is to be deposited, the top is laid open, and a hole scraped in its centre to within 2 or 3 inches
of the bottom of the layer of dead leaves. The egg is placed in the sand just at the edge of the hole, in a vertical
position, with the smaller end downwards. The sand is then thrown in again, and the mound left in its original
form. The egg which has been thus deposited is therefore completely surrounded and enveloped in soft sand,
having from 4 to 6 inches of sand between the lower end of the egg and the layer of dead leaves. When a second
egg is laid it is deposited in precisely the same plane as the first, but at the opposite side of the hole before alluded
to. When a third egg is laid it is placed in the same plane as the others, but, as it were, at the third corner of a
square. When the fourth egg is laid, it is still placed in the same plane ; but in the fourth corner of the square,
or rather of the lozenge, the figure being of this form, oF° ; the next four eggs in succession are placed in the

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