Part 38

"The materials composing these mounds are accumulated by the bird grasping a quantity in its foot, and throwing it backwards to a common centre, the surface of the ground for a considerable distance being so completely scratched over that scarcely a leaf or blade of grass is left. The mound being completed, and time being left for sufficient heat to be engendered, the eggs are deposited in a circle at the distance of nine or twelve inches from each other, and buried more than an arm's depth, with the large end upwards; they are covered up as they are laid, and allowed to remain until they are hatched. I have been credibly informed, both by natives and settlers living near their haunts, that it is not unusual to obtain half a bushel of eggs at a time from a single mound, and I have myself seen a native woman bring to the encampment in her net half that quantity, as the spoils of a foraging excursion to the neighbouring scrub. Some of the natives state that the females are constantly in the neighbourhood of the mound about the time the young are likely to be hatched, and frequently uncover and cover them up again, apparently for the purpose of assisting those that may have appeared, while others have informed me that the eggs are merely deposited and the young allowed to force their way unassisted. One point has been clearly ascertained, namely, that the young, from the hour that they are hatched, are clothed with feathers, and have their wings sufficiently developed to enable them to fly on to the branches of trees, should they need to do so to escape from danger. They are equally nimble on their legs; in fact, as a moth emerges from a chrysalis, dries its wings, and flies away, so the youthful Tallegallus, when it leaves the egg, is sufficiently perfect to be able to act independently and procure its own food.

"Although, unfortunately," continues Mr. Gould, "I was almost too late for the breeding season, I nevertheless saw several of these hatching mounds, both in the interior of New South Wales and at Illawarra. In every instance they were placed in the most retired and shady glens and on the slope of a hill, the part above the mound being scratched clean, while all below remained untouched, as if the birds had found it more easy to convey the materials down than to throw them up. The eggs are perfectly white, of a long oval form, three inches and three-quarters long, by two inches and a half in diameter."

In the Gardens of the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park, several old birds have constructed mounds, in which they deposited eggs, and their young have become developed.

"In the year 1854," says Mr. Sclater, "the singular phenomenon of the mound-raising faculty of the Tallegallus, which had been well ascertained in Australia by Mr. Gould, was effectually displayed by a pair of birds.

"On being removed into a sufficiently large enclosure, with an abundance of vegetable material within reach, the male began at once to throw it up into a heap behind him, by a scratching motion of his powerful feet, which projected each footful as he grasped it for a considerable distance in the rear. As he always began to work at the outer margin of the enclosure, the material was thrown inwards in concentric circles until it sufficiently neared the spot selected for the mound to be jerked upon it. As soon as the mound had risen to a height of about four feet, both birds worked in reducing it to an even surface, and then began to excavate a depression in the centre. In this in due time the eggs were placed, as they were laid, and arranged in a circle about fifteen inches below the summit of the mound, at regular intervals, with the smaller end of the egg pointing downwards. The male bird watched the temperature of the mound very carefully; the eggs were generally covered, a cylindrical opening being always maintained in the centre of the circle for the purpose of giving air to them, and probably to prevent the danger of a sudden increase of heat from the action of the sun, or accelerated fermentation in the mound itself. In hot days the eggs were nearly uncovered two or three times between morning and evening. In about a month after the first egg was supposed to have been laid a young bird was hatched, and is still living with its parents. Subsequent observation enables us to state that on the young bird chipping out of the egg, it remains in the mound for at least twelve hours, without making any effort to emerge from it, being at that time almost as deeply covered up as the rest of the eggs. On the second day it comes out with each of its wing-feathers well developed in a sheath which soon bursts, but apparently it has no inclination to use them, its powerful feet at once giving it ample means of locomotion. Early in the afternoon the young bird retires to the mound again, and is partially covered up for the night by the assiduous father, but at a diminished depth as compared with the circle of eggs from which it emerged in the morning. On the third day the nestling is capable of flight, and one of them accidentally forced its way through the strong netting which covered the enclosure."

In its native woods this species lives in small companies like other _Gallinæ_, and while on the ground appears shy and distrustful, but quite fearless when in the trees. "While stalking about the trees," says Mr. Gould, "the Tallegallus utters a rather loud clucking noise, but whether this sound is only produced by the female I could not ascertain; still, I think that such is the case, and that the spiteful male, who appears to delight in expanding his richly-coloured fleshy wattles and unmercifully thrashing his helpmate, is generally mute. In various parts of the brush I observed depressions in the earth, which the natives informed me were made by the birds in dusting themselves."

When disturbed, the Wattled Tallegallus readily eludes pursuit by the facility with which it runs through the tangled brush. If hard pressed, or when rushed upon by its great enemy the native dog, it springs upon the lowermost bough of some neighbouring tree, and by a succession of leaps from branch to branch ascends to the top, and either perches there or flies off to another part of the brush. It has also the habit of resorting to the branches of trees as a shelter from the mid-day sun, a peculiarity that greatly tends to its destruction; for, like the Ruffed Grouse of America, when assembled in small companies, these birds will allow a succession of shots to be fired until they are all brought down. Unless some measures be adopted for their preservation, this circumstance must lead to an early extinction of this singular species--an event much to be regretted, since, independently of its being an interesting object for the aviary, it is an excellent bird for the table.

THE MALEO.

The MALEO (_Megacephalon Maleo_) is characterised by a hard, round excrescence that commences at the nostrils and passes over the brow to the back of the head. The powerful beak is ridged at its culmen, and has the margin of the lower mandible almost straight; the third quill in the shell-shaped wing is longer than the rest; the rounded tail is composed of eighteen feathers, and the strong foot furnished with short toes. The plumage on the back, a band on the breast, and the region of the vent and thighs are blackish brown, and the breast and belly pale rose-red. The eye is yellow, the bare part of the head whitish blue, the occipital protuberance blue; the beak and the fore part of the foot are horn-grey. This species is twenty-four inches long; the wing measures eleven and the tail eight inches.

"In the months of August and September," says Wallace, "when there is little or no rain, the Maleos come down in pairs from the interior to one or two favourite spots, and scratch holes three or four feet deep, just above high-water mark, where the female deposits a single large egg, which she covers with about a foot of sand, and then returns to the forest. At the end of ten or twelve days she comes again to the same spot to lay another egg, and each female bird is supposed to lay six or eight eggs during the season. The male assists the female in making the hole, coming down and returning with her. The appearance of these birds when walking on the beach is very handsome. The glossy black and rosy white of the plumage, the helmeted head, and elevated tail, like that of the Common Fowl, give a striking character, which their stately and somewhat sedate walk renders still more remarkable. There is hardly any difference between the sexes, except that the casque or bonnet at the back of the head and the tubercles at the nostrils are a little larger, while the beautiful rosy salmon-colour is perhaps deeper in the male bird; but the difference is so slight that it is not always possible to tell a male from a female without dissection. They run quickly, but when shot at or suddenly disturbed take wing with a heavy noisy flight to some neighbouring tree, where they settle on a low branch; they probably roost at night in a similar situation. Many females lay in the same hole, for a dozen eggs are often found together, and these are so large that it is not possible for the body of the bird to contain more than one fully-developed egg at the same time. In all the female birds which I shot," continues this author, "none of the eggs besides the one large one exceeded the size of peas, and there were only eight or nine of these, which is possibly the extreme number a bird can lay in the season.

"Arrived at our destination, we built a hut, and prepared for a stay of some days, I to shoot and skin Maleos. The place is situated in the large bay between the islands of Limbé and Banca, and consists of a steep beach more than a mile in length, of deep, loose, and coarse black volcanic sand, or rather gravel, very fatiguing to walk over. It is in this loose black sand that those singular birds, the Maleos, deposit their eggs.

"Every year the natives come for fifty miles round to obtain these eggs, which are esteemed a great delicacy, and when quite fresh are indeed delicious. They are richer than Hens' eggs, and of a finer flavour, each one completely fills an ordinary tea-cup, and forms, with bread or rice, a very good meal. The colour of the shell is a pale brick-red, or very rarely pure white. They are elongate, and very slightly smaller at one end, from four to four and a half inches long, by two and a quarter and two and a half wide."

After the eggs are deposited in the sand they are no further cared for by the mother. The young birds on breaking the shell, work their way up through the sand, and run off at once to the forest. "I was assured by Mr. Duivenfoden, of Ternate," says Wallace, "that they can fly the very day they are hatched. He had taken some eggs on board his schooner which were hatched during the night, and in the morning the little birds flew readily across the cabin. Considering the great distances the hens come to deposit the eggs in a proper situation (often ten or fifteen miles), it seems extraordinary that they should take no further care of them. It is, however, quite certain that they neither do nor can watch them. The eggs being deposited by a number of hens in succession in the same hole would render it impossible for each to distinguish its own, and the food necessary for such large birds, consisting entirely of fallen fruits, can only be obtained by roaming over an extensive district; so that if the numbers which come down to this single beach in the breeding season, amounting to many hundreds, were obliged to remain in the vicinity, many would perish of hunger." In the structure of the feet of this bird we may detect a cause for its departing from the habits of its nearest allies, the _Megapodii_ and _Tallegalli_, which heap up earth, leaves, stones, and sticks into a large mound, wherein they bury their eggs. The feet of the Maleo are not nearly so large or strong in proportion as in these birds, while its claws are short and straight instead of being long and curved. The toes are, however, strongly webbed at the base, forming a broad powerful foot, this, with the rather long leg, is well adapted to scratch away the loose sand (which flies up in a perfect shower when the birds are at work), but they could not, without much labour, accumulate the heaps of miscellaneous rubbish brought together by the large grasping feet of the Megapodius.

THE OCELLATED LEIPOA.

The OCELLATED LEIPOA (_Leipoa ocellata_) has a slender body and a broad rounded wing, in which the second quill exceeds the rest in length; the tail, formed of fourteen feathers, is long, broad, and much rounded; the powerful foot is high, the beak comparatively small and straight. The colour of the head and crest is blackish brown, of the neck and shoulders dark ash-grey; the fore part of the former, from the chin to the breast, is marked by a series of lanceolate feathers, which are black, with a white stripe down the centre; the back and wings are conspicuously marked with three distinct bands of greyish white, brown, and black; near the tip of each feather the marks assume an ocellate form, particularly on the tips of the secondaries. The primaries are brown, their outer webs marked with zigzag lines of darker brown; the rump and upper tail-covers are brownish grey, the feathers of the latter transversely marked with two or three zigzag lines near their tip; all the under surface is light buff; the tips of the flank-feathers are barred with black; the tail is blackish brown, broadly tipped with buff; the bill black, and the foot blackish brown.

"The Ocellated Leipoa," says Gould, "appears to be more peculiarly suited for a plain and open country than for the tangled brush; and it is most curious to observe how beautifully the means employed by Nature for the reproduction of the species is adapted to the situations it is destined to inhabit." The following sketches of its economy, so far as it has yet been ascertained, were given me by Gilbert and Sir George Grey, and are here reproduced in their own words:--

"Wongan Hills, Western Australia, _September_ 28, 1842.

"This morning I had the good fortune to penetrate into the dense thicket I had so long been anxious to visit in search of the Leipoa's eggs, and had not proceeded far before the native who was with me told me to keep a good look out, as we were among the Ngou-oo's hillocks; and in half an hour after, we found one, around which the brush was so thick that we were almost running over it before seeing it. So anxious was I to see the hidden treasures within that, in my haste, I threw aside the black fellow and began scraping off the upper part of the mound; this did not please him at all, and he became very indignant, at the same time making me understand that as I had never seen this nest before, I had better trust him to get out the eggs, or I should, in my haste and impatience, certainly break them. I therefore let him have his own way, and he began scraping off the earth very carefully from the centre, throwing it over the side, so that the mound very soon presented the appearance of a huge basin. About two feet in depth of earth was in this way thrown off, when the large ends of two eggs met my anxious gaze; both these eggs were resting on their smaller apex, and the earth round them had to be very carefully removed to avoid breaking the shell, which is extremely fragile when first exposed to the atmosphere. About a hundred yards from this first mound, we came upon a second, rather larger, of the same external form and appearance; it contained three eggs. Although we saw seven or eight more mounds, only these two contained eggs: we were too early; a week later and we should doubtless have found many more. To give you an idea of the place these birds choose for their remarkable mode of rearing their young, I will describe it as nearly as I can.

"The Wongan Hills are about 1,300 feet above the level of the sea, in a north-north-east direction from Drummond's House in the Toodyay. Their sides are thickly clothed with a dense forest of _Eucalypti_, and at their base is a thicket, extending for several miles, of upright-growing and thick bushy plants, so high in most parts that we could not see over their tops, and so dense that if we only separated for a few yards we were obliged to 'cooey' to prevent our straying from each other. This thicket is again shadowed by a very curious species of dwarf _Eucalyptus_, bearing yellow blossoms, and growing from fifteen to thirty feet in height, known to the natives as the spear-wood, and of which they make their spears, digging-sticks, _dowaks_, &c. The whole formation is a fine reddish iron-stone gravel, and this the Leipoa scratches up for several yards around, and thus forms its mound, to be afterwards converted into a hotbed for the reproduction of its offspring. The interior of the mound is composed of the finer particles of the gravel, mixed with vegetable matter, the fermentation of which produces a warmth sufficient for the purpose of hatching. Mr. Drummond, who had been for years accustomed to hotbeds in England, gave it as his opinion that the heat around the eggs was about 89°. In both the nests with eggs the White Ant was very numerous, making its little covered galleries of earth around and attached to the shell, thus showing a beautiful provision of Nature in preparing the necessary tender food for the young bird on its emergence. One of the eggs I have preserved shows the White Ant's tracks most beautifully. The largest mound I saw, and which appeared as if in a state of preparation for eggs, measured forty-five feet in circumference, and, if round in proportion on the top, would have been fully five feet in height. I remarked that in all the mounds not ready for the reception of eggs the inside or vegetable portion was always wet and cold; and I imagine from the state of the others that the bird turns out the whole of the materials to dry before depositing its eggs and covering them up with the soil. In both cases where I found eggs, the upper part of the mound was perfectly and smoothly rounded over, so that any one passing it without knowing the singular habit of the bird might very readily suppose it to be an ant-hill. Mounds in this state always contain eggs within, while those without eggs are not only not rounded over, but have the centres so scooped out that they form a hollow. The eggs are laid directly in the centre, all at the same depth, separated only by about three inches of earth, and so placed as to form a circle. I regret we were so early. Had we been a week later, the probability is I should have found the circle of eggs complete. Is it not singular that all the eggs were equally fresh, as if their development was arrested until the full number were deposited, so that the young might all appear at the same time? No one considering the immense size of the egg can suppose for a moment the bird capable of laying more than one without at least the intermission of a day, and perhaps even more. Like those of the Megapodius, they are covered with an epidermis-like coating, and are certainly as large, being three inches and three-quarters in length by two and a half in breadth. They vary in colour from a very light brown to a light salmon. During the whole day we did not succeed in obtaining sight of the bird, although we saw numerous tracks of its feet, and many places where it had been scratching. We also saw its tracks on the sand when crossing the dried beds of the swamps at least two miles from the breeding thicket, which proves that the bird in procuring its food does not confine itself to the bushes around its nest, but merely resorts to them for the purpose of incubating. The native informed us that the only chance of procuring the bird was by stationing ourselves in sight of the mound at a little distance, and remaining quiet and immovable till it made its appearance at sundown. This I attempted, and, with the native, encamped within twenty yards of the mound about an hour before sunset, taking precautions to conceal ourselves well with bushes from the quick eye of the bird, but leaving just an opening to get a fair sight with my gun. In a half-sitting, half-crouching position, I thus remained in breathless anxiety for the approach of the bird I had so long wished to see, not daring to move a muscle for fear of stirring a branch or making a noise by crushing a dead leaf, till I was so cramped that I could scarcely bear the pain in my limbs. The bird did not, however, make its appearance, and the native, with the fear of wading through the thicket in the darkness (for there was no moon), became so impatient that he started up and began to talk so loud and make so much noise that I was compelled to give up all hopes of seeing the bird that night. However, just as we were passing the mound we started the bird from the opposite side, but, from the denseness of the thicket and the darkness closing round us, I had no chance of getting a shot at it."

Sir George Grey completes the account given by Gilbert. He says, "I have lately returned from the Murray, where I have been studying the habits and manners of the _Leipoa ocellata_, which is very plentiful in the sandy districts of the scrub. Its food consists chiefly of insects, such as _Phasmidæ_ and a species of _Cimex_. It also feeds on the seeds of various shrubs. It possesses the power of running with extraordinary rapidity; it roosts at night on trees, and never flies if it can avoid so doing.

"The mounds it constructs are from twelve to thirteen yards in circumference at the base, and from two to three feet in height, the general form being that of a dome. The sand and grass are sometimes scraped up for a distance of from fifteen to sixteen feet from its outer edge. The mound appears to be constructed as follows:--A nearly circular hole of about eighteen inches in diameter is scratched in the ground to the depth of seven or eight inches, and filled with dead leaves, dead grass, and similar materials; and a large mass of the same substance is placed all around it upon the ground. Over this first layer a large mound of sand, mixed with dried grass, &c., is thrown, and finally the whole assumes the form of a dome, as I have before stated.