170



On the Cclebcan Maleo.



Helena from a ship which had come from Java. On November 6th,

1871, this most desirable addition was safely unpacked at the Zoo.

On July 5th, 1876, a third Maleo was purchased for the same collec¬

tion, and a fourth was bought on May 24th of the following year.

These later specimens were probably those which were studied by

Prof. Garrod; for, in a paper on avian anatomy, published in 1878,

he states that he had dissected three examples of the Maleo.


Although the Maleos turned out by one of the rajahs on the

Sanghir Islands multiplied exceedingly, the present species does not

appear to have bred when brought to Europe ; too few have as yet

been imported to give the species a chance. Perhaps this interesting

event will some day take place in a Dutch Zoological Garden, for the

visitor to the collections of Amsterdam and Rotterdam will notice

many rarities from the East Indies exhibited therein. Probably the

Dutch colonists have many opportunities of sending home these

rarities, which live, as it were, before their very eyes. In 1909 the

writer observed at Amsterdam several examples of a rare form of

Anoa (dwarf Antelope-buffalo), a Rhinoceros Hornbill from Sumatra,

a lesser Bird of Paradise from New Guinea, and a fine specimen of

that almost unknown beast—the Sumatran Elephant. All these are

distinctively East Indian forms, and it seems a pity that the

collector of the Anoas did not send some Maleos as well. Since the

chicks are left untended by their parents they would not require to

be fed bn any specially prepared diet, so that they would be easy to

keep ; youngsters that can fly strongly on the very day of hatching

would be well able to fend for themselves. It seems that an enter¬

prising collector, by persevering digging in the hot sand of the

Maleo-pits, might make a good haul of almost hatched eggs, or even

take the chicks just hatched; these in Europe would be great

rarities, and would command a ready sale in the avicultural market.

A Maleo egg now before me is much elongated in shape, and of a pale

reddish buff colour.



