OCEANIA — WOOD 405 



Tonga, Dr. C. M. Dawson, chief of the medical service and all- 

 around scientist, gave me one of the eggs of this curious bird. This 

 specimen is of a purple-brown color, an egg twice as large as the 

 average hen's egg, the bird that laid it being smaller than the average 

 hen. The Malau resembles closely the Celebes species {Megacepha- 

 lon maleo) described by Alfred Wallace in his " Malay Archipelago." 

 '• It is," says he, " in loose, hot, black sand that the maleos deposit 

 their eggs. In the months of August and September, when there 

 is little or no rain, they come down in pairs from the interior to 

 certain favorite spots and scratch holes 3 or 4 feet deep, just above 

 high-water mark, where the female deposits a single large ^^g, 

 which she covers with about a foot of sand, and then returns to the 

 forest. At the end of 10 or 12 days she comes again to the same 

 spot to lay another Qgg, and each female is supposed to lay 6 or 8 

 eggs during the season. The male assists in making the hole, coming 

 down and returning with her. The appearance of the bird when 

 walking on the beach is very handsome. The glossy black and rosy 

 wdiite of the plumage, the helmeted head, and elevated tail, like that 

 of the common fowl, gives a striking character. * * * The eggs 

 are so large that it is not possible for the body of the bird to contain 

 more than one fully developed egg at a time. 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." Knowlton adds to the 

 foregoing (Birds of the World, p. 270) : "That the nesting habits 

 of these Megapodes are admirably adapted to the structure and pres- 

 ent life of the birds is beyond question ; but how these habits could 

 have originated in the first place is difficult to understand. Under 

 present conditions, if the birds were required to incubate their eggs, 

 serious difficulties would arise. With an interval of 10 or 12 days 

 between the laying of each &gg, a period of some two or three months 

 would elapse between the first and the last egg. If the eggs were 

 left until the last was laid, the first ones would be subject to climatic 

 injuries as well as destruction by predatory animals; while if the 

 female began incubation with the laying of the first egg, it would 

 require her to remain sitting for three months, which would be 

 impossible. It has been suggested that these nesting habits may be 

 the survival of a habit enjoyed by a remote reptilian ancestor, but 

 this is too improbable. Others think that it arose from the birds 

 covering 'up and concealing their eggs, which seems not unreason- 

 able; yet if this is true, it is difficult to see how they could have 

 become developed to the point where the young can fly from the time 

 of exit from the shell." 

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