IQO ALLEN S NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 



II. THE DARK-BILLED BRUSH-TURKEY. TALEGALLUS FUSCI- 

 ROSTRIS. 



TalegaUus fuscirosti'is, Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. ix. pp. 

 332, 334 (1877); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. 

 p. 466 (1893). 



Adult Male and Female. — Like T. cuvieri^ but tlie bill is sooty- 

 brown instead of orange-red, and the naked skin on the sides 

 of the head and neck is blackish-gre}\ not reddish-hroytn. Total 

 length, 21 inches; wing, 11-11-5; tail, 6*8-7; tarsus, 3*5- 

 37- 



Range. — Southern New Guinea, extending north-eastwards 

 to Geelvink Bay, and south to the Aru Islands. 



Hal)its. — To Von Rosenberg we owe the only account we 

 have been able to find of the habits of this bird. He says : — 

 " The * Kamur ' is not really rarer than the ' Djangul ' {Mega- 

 podius duperrej'i), but is not met with so frequently, owing to 

 its solitary forest-haunting habits. Near Wonumbai I found a 

 new nesting-mound of this bird situated in a ' radura,' and 

 protected by the shade of a Titie ( Vitex moluccana). It was 

 composed of earth mixed with sticks and leaves, the whole 

 forming a truncate cone 11 feet high and 25 feet round the 

 base. In the summit of the cone we found the openings of five 

 burrows which went down perpendicularly to a depth of four 

 feet, and were filled with earth. In four of these I found eggs 

 which were placed vertically. As they were broken by the 

 man who carried them, I was able to ascertain that they were 

 in various stages of development, and I was thus able to verify 

 the statement previously made to me by the natives, who affirm 

 that the eggs are laid at intervals of one or more days. In the 

 mound the thermometer rose to 93° Fahr., while the surround- 

 ing atmosphere was only 85° in the shade. A few days later 

 I found a second nesting-mound which, though it appeared to 

 have been abandoned for a long time, was much larger than 

 the first, and I was assured by my native guide that it was the 



