But of others, where the young remain some time in the nest after being hatched, the eggs are usually left, and the young taken before they can fly.

The eggs of the leipoa, or native pheasant, are found in singular-looking mounds of sand, thrown up by the bird in the midst of the scrubs, and often measuring several yards in circumference.

The egg is about the size of the goose egg, but the shell is extremely thin and fragile.

The young are hatched by the heat of the sand and leaves, with which the eggs are covered.

Each egg is deposited separately, and the number found in one nest varies from one to ten.
One nest that I examined, and that only a small one, was twelve yards in circumference, eighteen inches high, and shaped like a dome.