IQO LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORV. 



H. THE DARK-DILLED BRUSH-TURKEY. TALEGALLUS FUSCI- 



ROSTRLS. 



Talegalhis ftiscirostris, Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. ix. pp. 

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

 p. 466 (1893). 



Adult Male and Female. — Like T. ciwiert\ but the bill is sooty- 

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

 of the head and neck is blackish-grey, not reddish-hxo\sn. 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. 



Habits. — To Von Rosenberg we owe the only account we 

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

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

 podiiis duperreyi), 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 Title ( Vltex molucca7ia). 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 

 th-it 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 



