Talegalla, or BRUSH TURKEY (Talegallus), a genus of Gallinaceous birds, in the same family (Mega, didæ) as the mound-building Megapodes. Of the four species the Australian Talegallus lathami is best known. It is a large bird, almost the size of a female turkey, with blackish-brown plumage, pink-red head and neck, and yellow wattle. It inhabits the thickly-wooded parts of
New South Wales, and when pursued endeavours to escape by running through the thickest brush, or by leaping to the lowest branches of a tree, from which it ascends higher and higher, branch by branch. It thus avoids the dingoes or native dogs, which, however, often hunt it down on open ground. It is easy game to the sportsman, who finds it roosting sleepily under shelter of the branches of trees. The Talegalla is generally seen in small flocks, and they make their nests together, the males heaping up, by means of their feet, mounds of several cart-loads of earth and decayed leaves, which are used from year to year, new materials being added annually. The eggs are hatched by the heat of the sun and of the fermenting mound, each egg being separately buried. The parent birds partially uncover them during the day. It is said that nearly a bushel of eggs may sometimes be found in one heap. The flesh of the bird is excellent, and the eggs are also very delicate and eagerly sought after. It is thought that this bird might be added to the list of domestic poultry.