Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 294, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 December 1914 — Australia’s Mallee Hen. [ARTICLE]

Australia’s Mallee Hen.

The builder of the biggest nest in the world is the Australian mallee hen, a bird considerably smaller than a domestic turkey. The nest is used year after year, and as many as twenty or thirty pairs of birds use the same nest at one tjjne. It is not uncommon to find a hundred eggs in a nest, and these are very good for cooking purposes. A large of earth is scratched together by the birds, the center being filled with leaves, and on these the eggs are laid. They are then covered with more leaves and earth, and the cares of the parent bird are ended. They do not sit on the eggs at all, as the spontaneous combustion of the rotting leaves generates the required heat for Incubation, says the Strand. The chickens are able to run about and find food for themselves from the time they are hatched. The small hen is a very shy bird, and is seldom seen near any habitation.