"The scrub-turkey (<i>Talegalla Lathami</i>) is a most curious bird; its habitat is in the thickest scrubs. In appearance it much resembles the English hen turkey, though but little larger than a fowl." [2.]
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 214:
"Look at this immense mound. It is a scrub-turkey's nest. Thirty or forty lay their eggs in it. One could hardly imagine they could gather such a huge pile of sticks and earth and leaves. They bury their eggs, and heap up the nest until the laying time ceases. The moist heap heats and incubates the eggs. The young turkeys spring out of the shell, covered with a thick warm coat, and scratch their way into daylight, strong and able to provide food for themselves." [3.]
1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':
"The bustard (<i>Eupodotis Australis</i>) is known by the colonists as the native turkey. It is excellent eating and is much sought after on that account. The hen bird lays only one egg, depositing it on the bare ground. Formerly they were numerous in the neighbourhood of Melbourne, but they have now been driven further inland; they are still abundant on the western plains and on the open Saltbush country of the Lower Murray. They are difficult to approach on foot, but it is easy to get within gunshot of them on horseback or driving. The natives used formerly to capture them in an ingenious manner by means of a snare; they approached their intended victim against the wind under cover of a large bush grasped in the left hand, while in the right was held a long slender stick, to the end of which was fastened a large fluttering moth, and immediately below a running noose. While the bird, unconscious of danger, was eyeing and pecking at the moth, the noose was dexterously slipped over its head by the cunning black, and the astonished bird at once paid the penalty of its curiosity with its life." [1.]
1891. Ibid.:
"In the first division are several specimens of the Brush-Turkey (<i>Talegalla Lathami</i>) of Australia. These birds have excited world-wide interest in scientific circles, by their ingenious mode of incubating. They construct a large mound of vegetable mould and sand; mixed in such proportions that a gentle heat will be maintained, which hatches the buried eggs. The young chicks can look after themselves shortly after bursting the egg-shell." [2.]
1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 274:
"The brush-turkeys, which are not really turkeys but birds of that size, build big mounds of decaying vegetable matter, lay their eggs on the top, cover them over with leaves, and leave the whole to rot, when the heat of the sun above and of the fermentation below, hatches the eggs, and the young creep out to forage for themselves without ever knowing their parents." [2.]
1893. Professor H. A. Strong, in `Liverpool Mercury,' Feb. 13: