she would soon follow the example of the lady dingo. Though I had
frequently tried to make her ride on one of the packs, she preferred to
trot along at the heels of Czar, receiving from him occasional kicks if
by chance she touched him, which did not tend to improve the pups so soon
to see the light. Tying her on was no better; she only struggled and
nearly hanged herself. She had therefore to walk as she desired. Having
made camp, and unrolled our blankets ready to turn into them when the
time came, Breaden and I experimented on numerous mallee-roots which we
dug up, but in every case failed to find any appreciable moisture, On
returning to camp we found our party had been increased by one--a large
pup which Val had deposited in her master's blankets. It was dead, which
was fortunate, as we could hardly have kept it, and would not have liked
to destroy the little animal, born in such unusual surroundings.

No change occurred in the country the next day, but the march was saved
from its usual monotony by Warri finding two mallee-hens' nests.
Unluckily they had no eggs, though the birds' tracks were fresh and
numerous. These nests are hollowed out in the sand, to a depth of perhaps
two and a half feet, conical shaped, with a mouth some three feet in
diameter; the sand from the centre is scraped up into a ring round the
mouth. Several birds help in this operation, and when finished lay their
eggs on a layer of leaves at the bottom; they then fill in the hole to
the surface with small twigs and more leaves. Presumably the eggs are
hatched by spontaneous heat, the green twigs and leaves producing a
slightly moist warmth, similar to that of the bird's feathers. I have
seen numbers of these nests, never with eggs in, but often with the
shells from recently hatched birds lying about. How the little ones force
their way through the sticks I do not understand, but Warri and many
others who have found the eggs assure me that they do so.