Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-05
BIRDS WITH sIa NESTS
Australian Fowls which Ru,,d Gigantic
Ones and Tee Them In Commoa.
ZANE Or THE MnSr rxTrppc,,~,x, 49,.

Australian Fowls which Rui,d Gigantic
ones and Use Them In Common
|nSE OF THE MOST INTERESTING MIN
~ among the scientists who have been visit
ing Washington 10 Prof Henry A. Ward. thu !
great natural science collector Of Rochester.
\. u He has spent his life in travelling al
over the world for the purpose Of gathering
material for museums The adventures he has
met with while in pursui, of curiosities in one
Tar corner OF the earth or another would an
many delightful books. In conversation the
other day ne referred to an expedition he once
made In search OF an extraordinary Australian
bird which has Q Communal nest. a whole
dock uniting their efforts ir It's construction
and sharing its conveniences Tor the parposs Of
laying their eggs.
PAVING WIFE BIscrIs
at was in the neighborhood Of For, Darwin.
on Torres straits" said the professor 10 a rem
resentative Of THE STAR. Il had some native
black fellows with me and q lot Of biscuits "a
pay them with. Biscuits so with them for
wages IS well AZ money. because they care for
nothing in life but eating. IL you give them
coins they carry them In their care ana thew
are more apt than not 20 wear no clothes at all,
save band around the left arm 10 hold a TO-
bacco pipe that lie stuck in il when not in use.
One must take care not 60 let them have .nv
biXit,' as they call them. until their work =
done. Otherwise. having gobbled them, thew
! sleep, though it be in the middle Of The ros d
and the occasion one OF serious eKigency.
BRrsH TURKEYS.
These particularblack fellows had promises
| to guide me to q nest Of the brush turkcvs' I
had never seen Que aud vas very anxious 20 do
co. On our journey my Companions seemed
necessarily TO be looking for something TO eat
When opportunity served they climbed tall
trees FOR oysters The rise and fall Of the tides
In Torres straits is enormous and the ovsters
which are under water when il IL high being
attached TO the trunks of trees. are left ten 10
twelve feet out OF water when il is at it's lowest
| l saw two gigantic kangaroos on that trim ana
measured the leaps of one OF them. Thirty-
! two feet the tape line showed for each tumn,
taking II from toe mark 60 toe mark as the ami.
NAL left them in the sand IL H. marvellous to
see one OF those great marsupials streaking
across the country in immense bounds literally
throwing itself through the air with its mighty
hind limbs and hardly seeming 20 touch the
earth in its flight. The beast really looks az II
| II was flying, and am not surprised that Capt
Cooks naturalist should have mistaken the
hrst kangaroo he saw for bird.
FILMING DRAGON.
! "on our way to find the nest came across q
beautiful specimen Of a rare kind Of lizard.
commonly called the 'iying dragon because
| II sometimes appears 20 fy. supporting it-slf
| In the air 10 some extent does a fiying sauir-
| rel. This one, which had an especially large
ana hne ruffie around its neck. cfawlod into
| hollow log 20 escape. i appended the log,
when it fell out. aud told one Of che bincf
| Fellows to pick II up. He did SO, and immedi-
! stely carrying II 60 his mouth bit Of its head
| Was very angry to lose such a treasure in that
ways but whsn L scolded the man simply
looked astonished, rubbed his stomach, and
said, Good, good" Soon afterward my atten-
ton was called TO a sort of n-the-pulpit'
that grew in little dell Its leaves were soms-
| what withered, which fact was accounted for
when another Of my aboriginal companions
piueked the plant up by the roots and showed
me hanging from them bright green cater
pillar quite foot IN length. This latter he
| cooily held up by one end. dropped II down his
\ throat, closed his eyes in ECSTASY of gustatory
appreciation and rubbed his stomach also.
| MAMMOTH NEST.
| ''We reached the nest at last aud il was well
worth seeing. 1t was q circular mound eight
feet in diameter. The birds begin the con-
struction of such q one by getting together .
big heap OF leaves. On top Of and around this
heap they gather earth by scratching IL back.
ward toward the pile. and IL was in this way
| wholly that the great mound 1 describe WINS
built up. All the surface soil had been scrnped
| away for long distance around for adding 70
| the accumulation. When the brush turkeys
have thus made their earth heap ready for the
season. laying they cut cylindrical hole down
| into the middle of it. Into this they get one
by one, and lay their eggs.
HOW THE Zoos ARE HArcHrp.
AS soon rs all are through they oil up the
hole. leaving cavity shaped like wash basin
on the top Of the mound. Rains come, ana the
water retained in this hollow filters through TO
the deposit Of leaves. which are thus made 20
decompose. The heat Of decomposition matches
the eggs. and the young sowls barrow their way
out OF the mouns, not upward, but through the
sides. 1t is a wise brush turkey that knows lie
| own mother, for the parent birds give no
thought nor care TO their offspring after depos-
| iting their eggs. You can imagine what q vast
amount OF material 10 put into one Of these
nests when L tell you that friend OF mine IN
Australia made his whole garden patch fron
one Of the mounds"