ANOTHER species of mound-making bird is tolerably common about Port Essington. This is the AUSTRALIAN JUNGLE FOWL (Megapodius tumulus), which makes earth-mounds of prodigious size, one of them which was measured being no less than fifteen feet in perpendicular height, and twenty feet in diameter. If the reader will measure off twenty feet along the floor of a room, and fifteen feet upon the walls, he will form a conception of the enormous size of these tumuli. These heaps are always placed under shelter, and are sometimes so enveloped in foliage that, in spite of their great size, they can scarcely be discovered. The materials of which they are composed are rather variable, according to the locality, but the general mass consists of leaves, grass, and other vegetable matter.

Vast numbers of eggs are laid in these nests, and are placed at a considerable depth, some of them being as much as six or seven feet from the top of the heap. They are deposited in a curious manner, the bird scratching its way into the heap, laying an egg, and then filling up the hole as she makes her way out again. The natives always use their hands in digging out these eggs, because their fingers can follow the track of the bird, the softer and looser material acting as a guide. A twig is generally used as a probe by which the presence of a hole is detected, but the hands are the only tools which are used in following up the tortuous track, which sometimes proceeds in a straight line, and then turns suddenly at an angle, the bird having come on a stone or some such obstacle which prevents her from continuing in the same line.

It is a remarkable fact that these mounds are always found near the sea, and in one instance a heap was seen on the verv shore, only just above highwater mark.

THE curious bird called by the natives LEIPOA, and by colonists the NATIVE PHEASANT (Leipoa ocellata), is another of the moundmakers. In order to avoid confusing the mind of the reader, I may here mention that there are three Australian birds which are popularly called pheasants, the one being the Leipoa, and the others the two species of lyre-bird (Menura). The Leipoa certainly has a very pheasant-like appearance, both in the general outline of the head and body, together with the pencilled plumage, the long tail being only wanted in order to complete the resemblance.

It is usually found towards the north-west portions of Australia, preferring sandy plains to any other localities.

The mound which is made by the Leipoa is comparatively small, being seldom more than eight or nine feet in diameter, and a yard or so in height. It is made up of mixed sand, soil leaves and grass, and is sometimes so hard at its lowest portions, that the hands become useless in digging out the eggs, and strong tools are required. In each nest there are usually about a dozen eggs, which are deposited singly in the mound. One nest, however, will afford a large supply of eggs, just as is the case with our domestic hens, for if her nest be repeatedly robbed, the bird continues to lay for a very long time. The eggs are whitish, slightly speckled with dull 'red. It is a curious fact that a number of ants are always to be found about the nest of the Leipoa, and their presence, together with the hard, strong substance of the lower part of the nest, would lead many persons to suppose that the mound was nothing but a large ant-hill.

CHAPTER XVII.

BUILDING BIRDS—(CONTINUED).

Nesting of the Hornbills-Dr. Livingstone's account of the KORWÉ, or REDBREASTED HORNBILL-The LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE-Its general habits-Its use to the gardener-Number of the young-Form and materials of the nest-Localities chosen by the bird-How to prepare the fragile eggs-The MAGPIE -Its domed and fortified nest-The common WREN and its nest-Pseudo-nesta and their probable origin-The HOUSE WREN of America-Its habits and mode of nesting-Wilson's account of the bird-Its usefulness and quarrelsome nature -The LYRE BIRD-Origin of its name-Its domed nest-The ALBERT'S LYRE BIRD and its habits-The BoWER BIRD-Why so called-Civilization and social amusement-The remarkable bower-Its materials and mode of construction-Use to which it is put-The Bower Birds in the Zoological Gardens, and their habits-Love of ornament-Meaning of the scientific name-The SPOTTED BOWER BIRD of New South Wales-Its bower-Description of the birds and their place in the present system.

THE reader may remember that in the account of the toucan and its semi-burrowing mode of nesting, it was mentioned that the bird was sometimes in the habit of closing the aperture of its nest with mud. It is a very remarkable fact that both groups of large-billed birds should possess the same habit, and that the HORNBILL of Africa should close its nest with mud like the toucan of tropical America. These groups of birds are somewhat similar in external appearance, the huge beak giving them a kind of family likeness. They are, however, widely distinct in zoological systems, the toucans belonging to the scansorial, or climbing birds, and the hornbills ranking with the touracos, plantain-eaters, and colies.

Like the toucan, the Hornbill makes its nest in the hole of some decaying tree, and one of the species, at all events, seems invariably to reduce the size of the entrance by plastering it up with mud, and leaving only a very little aperture. The following interesting account of the Hornbill and its nest is quoted from Dr. Livingstone's well-known work.

"We passed through large tracts of Mopane country, and my men caught a great many of the birds called KORWÉ (Tockus erythorhynchus) in their hiding-places, which were in holes in

the mopane-tree.

On the 19th (February) we passed the nest of a Korwé, just ready for the female to enter; the orifice was plastered on both sides, but a space was left of a heart shape, and exactly the size of the bird's body. The hole in the tree was in every case found to be prolonged some distance upwards above the opening, and thither the Korwé always fled to escape being caught. In another nest we found that one white egg, much like that of the pigeon, was laid, and the bird dropped another when captured. She had four besides in the ovarium.

"The first time that I saw this bird was at Kolobeng, where I had gone to the forest for some timber. Standing by a tree, a native looked behind me, and exclaimed, 'There is the nest of a Korwé.' I saw a slit, only about half an inch wide and three or four inches long, in a slight hollow of the tree. Thinking the word 'Korwé' denoted some small animal, I waited with interest to see what he would extract; he broke the clay which surrounded the slit, put his arm into the hole, and brought out a Tockus, or Red-breasted Hornbill, which he killed.

'He informed me that when the female enters her nest, she submits to a real confinement. The male plasters up the by which to feed his mate,

entrance, leaving only a narrow slit and which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female makes a nest of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains with the young till they are fully fledged. During all this time, which is stated to be two or three months, the male continues to feed her and the young family. The prisoner generally becomes fat, and is esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives, while the poor slave of a husband gets so lean that, on the sudden lowering of the temperature, which sometimes happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down, and dies. I never had an opportunity of ascertaining the exact length of the confinement, but on passing the same tree at Kolobeng about eight. days afterwards, the hole was plastered up again, as if in the short time that had elapsed the disconsolate husband had secured another wife. We did not disturb her, and my duties prevented me from returning to the spot.

"This (February) is the month in which the female enters the nest. We had seen one of these, as before mentioned, with the plastering not quite finished; we saw many completed, and we received here the very same account that we did at Kolobeng, that

the bird comes forth when the young are fully fledged, at the period when the corn is ripe; indeed, her appearance abroad with her young, is one of the signs they have for knowing when it ought to be so. As that is about the end of April, the time is between two and three months. She is said sometimes to hatch two eggs, and when the young of these are full-fledged, other two are just out of the egg-shells: she then leaves the nest with the two elder, the orifice is again plastered up, and both male and female attend to the wants of the young which are left."

In this curious history of bird architecture, two points are peculiarly interesting, one being the reservation of a higher point whereto the bird may fly in case of invasion, and the other the fact that two broods of young can be in the nest at one time.

Passing from the birds which build with mud, we now come to those which use vegetable substances in their habitations. As examples of such architecture, we shall select the nests of those birds which are able to construct domed habitations, as well as the remarkable structures which are built by the Bower-birds of Australia.

The LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE (Parus caudatus) constructs a nest which is quite as wonderful in its way as the pensile home of the harvest mouse.

This pretty little bird is very plentiful in England, and owing to its habit of associating in little flocks of ten or twelve in number, and the exceeding restlessness of its character, is very familiar to all observers of nature. These flocks generally consist of the parent and their offspring, for the little creature is exceedingly prolific, laying a vast quantity of tiny eggs in its warm nest, and rearing most of the young to maturity. This is a bird which ought to be cherished by all possessors of fields or gardens, for there is scarcely a more determined enemy to the many noxious insects which destroy the fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Fortunately for ourselves, the Long-tailed Titmouse is very fond of the various sawflies, that work such mischief among our fruit trees, and often lay waste whole acres of gooseberries, and it is no exaggeration to say that to a possessor of an orchard, or a fruit garden of any kind, every Long-tailed Titmouse is well worth its little weight in gold.