to admit their bodies, and to s B f H B S esrtfe fcatwejm f a » « . 9 S » » g ^ U iP llS a g e ffi f B g p ™ W M liM
follow t o dwotiou of ilia hole with greater oartamty l # o | wff apmehmes, at jufejtli of several feet, « 0 # W M I
angles its direct coarse fcsmg obstructed to fcdum^of^ood or K B h | Ibsm W tm tg g howeuer, oft® put to
severe'trials. In the preBent instance the'i^tveft^^TOsixihnes ^ajocessi® to a'depft.gf feast six o r * g £ feet without
finding an egg, and; aJKthelast attempt came up H • **> of exhaustion thathp g g g a g try "gain; hufey interest
too much excited to relinquish the opportunity o fc iv^ fc f the native's statements; and by.thenffeS' Uf an additional;reward I
induced him to try «grim? thfe sevenfli trial pgiygd successM,-««* my gratificatfen was complete, wh® the native with^gaal pnde
®d satisfaction h4d’i an egg, and after two or three more l ft8mpfe,produced a second j f W -m Pm ’ltm JM W * Europeans
* S # h 9 of disregarding the narrative of H h H extraordingry or different •
from anything with whi^they w e previously acquainted.
» I revisited Knocker’s Bay on the tenth of-Febrmuy, andfaaving with some difficulty penetrated into a dense canelike
creeping plants, I suddenly found myself b e s i^ a ; ^ ^ of gigantic j s p p o jg ^ It v^f&eenfopt in height and
circumference at the base, the upper part bping about atimd less, and was entirely composed of the richest description of light
vegetable mould ; dn the top were very recent marks o f ^bird’s feet. The native an^ myself immediately set to work, and after
an ^hour’s extreme labour, rendered the moJfStiguing from the excessive heat, and toetomentmg attacks of myriads of mosquitoes
and sand-flies, I succeeded^ obtaining an ^ f r o m a'deptiiSdfeabout five feet; itswai in a perpendicular position,rwitifTthe 'earth
•surrounding and v$jy ljih|]y tqughiftg M sides> andfwithputlanyjother .material to impai$ ^sfrjnths. which in.focfcdid not
appear necessary, the mound being guituwarn^to the h?mds; The mound commenced at the outer edge of ^ e summit,
and ran down obliquely towards the cmte^ their duection .therefore is not uniform- of the mounds I have
seen, fluswas so-enveloped^inthiddy foliaged trees’as to preclude the possibility. offt h ^ ^ ’g|^rea.ching any part
rs'. $ | | § § g g § differ very much in .their composition, form’and situation: most o n ^ se fh a t are placed near th^^te^s edge
werefbrmedKdf sgnd and shells without^vestige of any ofoer material, but in sSme/of them I met soil and
;d&c&yinkTOd/^keniconstructed o f th is -^ e material'they^are very irregulariu ou£Une,-aid^ft^'resembl^ank thrown u ^
.by a constant heavy surf. One remarkable specimen of this description, situated, on.;; the southern; ^dgof Knocker’s Bay, has the,
app^rance u fa batik,^from, fient^fiye*to thirty^^ lragth , with an ave^geh^g^qf.fiye singular ^
Situated £t the head of the' harbour, andis composed entirely of pebbly nu^stone,’ resembling a^co|ffa^h^-<^ riftedgravdpg
into this I dug to-the depth oCtwo or three feet ^tKqft finding any^hange df character | it i^ay h fg ^ g ^ ^ a y o n g in a lly ,
is now^withput any regularity, and is very extensive, covering a space of atrleast a hundred j^ ^% fe e tm circumference. ^Th^er
remarkable specimens.wouldjkowever, seem to be exceptions,'as byfafthe greater num^er^d^tireiyTormeddf light black vege-^
itfl)le?soil5 are of a .conical fprm, and are situated in-the densest thiQkets. Occasionally the ^qgs^are;metOTtifin: barren, rocky'
and sandy Ifili-n s , where not a particle of soilsimilar to,that of which they are.-comjgps^ occurs for miles around: how t%';
S(^*m produced, in such situations appears unaccountable; it has been |ai^,that,the parentbirds bring it from a great distance j but
as we have seen that tiiey readily adapt themselves to the difference of situation, this is collect
the dead leaves and other vegetable matter tbat may be at hand, and which decomposing forms o f soil.
The mounds are doubtless the work of many years, and of many buds;in succession; some of them are evidently very ancient,
trees beihg often seen growing from theirrides | in one instance | found a tree growing from the middle of a mound which was a
foot in diameter. I endeavoured to glean from the natives how the young effect ftskeirihscape; but on this point they do not agree;
some asserting that they find their way unaided; others on the contrary affirmed that^et^ hirfs, knowing when the young are
ready to emerge from their confinement, scratch down and release them.
^ • £ l|fj| natives say-that only a single pair of |J|jfj§§ ever found at one mound at my own o g
sexvation, I believe to be the case , they also affirm that the eggs are deposited at night, at intervals of several day|/ and this I also
fariieve to/b&cfarreet; as four eggs taken on the same day, and from the same momid,'c»nt£uned y6ung in, different stages of develop-
• and the fact that they are always placed perpendicularly is established b y^the conctmng testimony of all the different tribes
of natives I b£.ve questioned on the subject
“ The Jungle-fowl is almost exclusively confinecfto the dense thickets immediately adjacent to the sea-beach; it appears-neyegl
to gd for-inland, except along the banks ofcreekst* ^It is always met with in g^^ ^^^&olitary, and feeds on lim^ffiLdfifs‘
food consisting of roots, which'its powerful claws enable it to scratch up with the ntmosfesfacilijy, and also of seeds, berries and*
insects, particularly the larger species of coleoptera."
“ It is at all timM a very difficult bird to procure; for although the rustling noise produced by its stiff pinions when flymg'may’-
be frequently heard, the bird itself is seldom to be seen. Its flight is heavy and unsustained in the extreme; first “disturbed
ifinvariably flies to a tree, and on alighting stretches but its head and neck in a straight-line with its body, remaining in this
position as stationary and motionless as the branch upon which it is perched; if, however, it becomes
a horizontal hut laborious flight for about a hundred yards, with its legs hanging down as if broken. I did; nob’ ju fs^ f detect
any note or cry; bjat from the natives’ description and imitation of it, it much resembles the clucking of the domestic fowl, ending
a scream like that of the peacock.
■« I observed that the birds continued to lay from the latter part of August to March, when I left that part of the cgrmtry ; and,
according to the testimony of the natives, there is only an interval of about four far five months, the driest and hottest part of the
year, between their seasons ofiihcuftatian. The composition of thbrn^ad appears to influence the colouring of a thin epidermis
with-which the eggs are covered, and which readily chips off, showing the tripahbll' to be white; those deposited in the black soil
are always of a dark reddish brown, while those from the sandy hillocks near the beach are of a dirty yellowish white; they differ
a o-ood deal in size, but inform they all assimilate, both ends bring equal; they are three inches and five lines long by two inches
and three lines broad.*' “
, Head and crest very deep cinnamon-brown; back of the neck and all tlie under surface very dark gray;
back and wings Cinnamon-brown; upper and under tail-coverts dark chestnut-brown; tail blackish brown ;
irides generally dark brown, but in some specimens light reddish brown ; bill reddish brown, with yellow
edges: tarsi and feet bright orange, the scales on the front of the tarsi from the fourth downwards, and the
scales of the toes dark reddish brown,
•- HThe figure is about brfe-fiffch less than the natural size.