THE GAME-BIRDS AND RAILS 



25 



The Megapodes and Brush-turkeys, though dull and uninteresting-looking birds, are, on 

 account of the facts connected with the propagation of their species, quite remarkable. They 

 do not brood over their eggs, as do other birds, but instead bury them, either in sand in 

 the neighbourhood of warm springs or in heaps of decaying \'egetable matter. In the latter 

 case the material is often collected by several birds working together. Mounds of 8 feet high 

 and 60 feet in circumference have been found, the work of the NiCOBAR Megapode. Such 

 have been many years in use, material being added each season. Into this mass the female 

 digs down and deposits an egg every second day, covering it up as soon as laid. There 

 It remains till hatched, when the young, probably aided b\' its mother, forces its way up to 

 the surface, and emerges, not a down)' nestling as one would expect, but clothed with feathers 

 differing but slightly in texture from those worn in the adult state. Owing to the precocious 

 development, )'oung megapodes are able to fly within an hour after birth. 



There are many different kinds of megapodes occurring in Australia, Samoa, and the 

 Nicobar and Philippine Islands. 



f:i. 



R A Z O R - B I L L E D C U R A S S O \V 



Scj called Jrum the sharp ridge aUtig the top of the heak 



C R E S I" E D C U R A S S O W 



So called from iti ctdt of curled Jeather. 



The CURASSOWS and GUAXS are \-ery handsome birds, but probably quite unknown to most 

 of our readers, yet they ma_\- aKva_\s be seen in Zoological Gardens. They are closeh' re- 

 lated to the megapodes, which wc have just been discussing; but their nesting habits are 

 quite different. The}- la\' their eggs in nests, either on the ground oi' in trees, and brood 

 over them like other birds. Many have brilliantly coloured bare skin on the head and 

 handsome crests. They are natives of Central and South America, where the}- are often 

 kept by the settlers, as they tame easil\-. It is said that one of the guans, when crossed with 

 the domesticated fowl, becomes intensely pugnacious, and superior to the game-cock for 

 fighting purposes 



BUSTARU-QUAIL AND PLAIN-WANDERERS 



These are small and quail-like in appearance, though the\' are probably onh- distant 

 relatives of the Game-birds. But the}- are, nevertheless, remarkable birds. A great authority, 

 Mr. A. (3. Hume, writing of the Indian Bustard-ouail, says of them: " The most remarkable 

 point in the life-histor\' of these bustard-quails is the extraordinar\' fashion in which, amongst 

 them, the position of the sexes is re\'ersed. The females are the larger and handsomer birds. 

 The females only call, the females only fight — natives say that they fight for the males, and 

 probably this is true. The males . . . only ... sit upon the eggs, the females meanwhile 

 larking about, calling, and fighting, without any care for their obedient mates; and, lastly, the 

 males tend . . . the young brood." 



