The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1892-01-16

and 90 to sleep, though it may be In the
middle of the road and the occasion one OF
serious exigency.
These particular black fellows had
promisedgto guide me to a nest OF the
| had never seen one, and was very
anxious TO do so. On my Journey my
companions seemed necessarily 10 be look
ing for something to eat. When oppor-
Unity served they climbed tall trees tor
oysters. The rise and fall OF the udes In
Torres straits Is enormous, and the oysters
which are under water when 1t Is high,
..cing attached 10 the trunks OF trees, are
lpft zen or twelve feet ont OF the water
when it rs the lowest. | saw two gigantic
kangaroOs ON that trip, and mea' urea the
leaps of one of them. Ihirty-two feet
the tape line showed for each Jump, tax
ing il from toe mark to toe mark, as the
animal left them in the sand. 1t Is marve-
lous to see one If these great marsuplals
strcaking across the county In immense
bounds, literally throwing itself through
the air with its mighty hind limbs and
hardly seeming to touch the earth In lts
fight. The beast really looks as it 1t
was flying, and am not surprised that
Capt. Cooks naturalist should have
bird.
"On our way to find the nest, | came
across a beautiful specime of rare kind
of lizard. commonly called the flying
dragon. because it sometimes appears to
fy. supporting itsel in the air to some
extent as does flying squirrel. This one,
which had m especially large and fine
ruffie around its neck, crawied into hollow
log to escape. up.ended the log, when
it fell out, and told one of the black fel-
lows to pick it up. He did so. and imme.
diately carrying it to his mouth, bit OH It's
head. was very angry to lose such
treasure in that way: but, when ! scolded
the man looked astonished. rubbed his
stomach and said, Good, good. Soon
afterward may attention was called to a
sort of 'Jack-in-in-the pulpit that grew
in little dell. Its leaves were somewhat
wi.hered. which fact was accounted for
when another of my aboriginal compan-
ions plucked the plant up by tue roots and
showed me, hanging from them, bright
green caterpillar, quite foot In length.
This latter he cody held up 10y one end,
dropped it down his throat, closed his eyes
in an ecstacy of gustatcry appreciation and
rubbed his stomach also.
We reached the nest mt last, and il was
well worth seeing. 1t was a circular
mound feet high and % feet in dame
ter The birds begin the construction of
such one by getting together a big heap
of leaves. On top Of and around this heap
they gather earth by scratching it back
ward toward the pile, and it was in this
way wholly that the great mound de-
scribe was built up. All the surface soil
had been scraped away for a long oist-
ance around, for adding to the accumua.
ton. When the birds have thus made
their earth heap ready for the seasons
laying, they cut cylindrical hole down
into the middle of it, Into this they get
one by one and lay their eggs. As soon
as all are through they fill up the hole
leaving a cavity shaped like wash basin
on the top of the mound. Rains come,
and the water retained in this hollow fit
ers through to the depot of leaves, which
are thus made to decompose. The heat of
matches the eggs and the
young fowls burrow their way out of the
not upward. but through the
sides II is wise bird that knows its
own mother. for the pareIt bird gives no
thought or care to their offspring after de-
posting their eggs. You can imagine
what a vast amount of material is put into
one of these nests when tell you that
friend of mine in Australia made his
whole garden pa ch from one-half of one
Of these mounds. Commercial
l,azptte