Of the Moluccas. 403 



but instead of making a mound, or scratching a hole to receive 

 them, it burrows into the sand to the depth of about three 

 feet obliquely downward, and deposits its eggs at the bottom. 

 It then loosely covers up the mouth of the hole, and is said 

 by the natives to obliterate and disguise its own footmarks 

 leading to and from the hole by making many other tracks and 

 scratches in the neighborhood. It lays its eggs only at night, 

 and at Bouru a bird was caught early one morning as it was 

 coming out of its hole, in w^hich several eggs were found. All 

 these birds seem to be semi-nocturnal, for their loud wailing 

 cries may be constantly heard late into the night and long 

 before daybreak in the morning. The eggs are all of a rusty- 

 red color, and very large for the size of the bird, being gen- 

 erally three or three and a quarter inches long, by two or 

 two and a quarter wide. They are very good eating, and 

 are much sought after by the natives. 



Another large and extraordinary bird is the cassowary, 

 which inhabits the island of Ceram only. It is a stout and 

 strong bird, standing five or six feet high, and covered with 

 long coarse black hair-like feathers. The head is ornament- 

 ed with a large horny casque or helmet, and the bare skin 

 of the neck is conspicuous with bright blue and red colors. 

 The wings are quite absent, and are replaced by a group of 

 horny black spines like blunt porcupine-quills. These birds 

 wander about the vast mountainous forests that cover the 

 island of Ceram, feeding chiefly on fallen fruits, and on in- 

 sects or Crustacea. The female lays from three to five large 

 and beautifully shagreened green eggs upon a bed of leaves, 

 the male and female sitting upon them alternately for about 

 a month. This bird is the helmeted cassowary (Casuarius 

 galeatus) of naturalists, and was for a long time the only 

 species known. Others have since been discovered in New 

 Guinea, New Britain, and North Australia. 



It was in the Moluccas that I first discovered undoubted 

 cases of "mimicry" among birds, and these are so curious 

 that I must briefly describe them. It will be as well, however, 

 first to explain what is meant by mimicry in natural history. 

 At page 142 I have described a butterfly which, when at rest, 

 so closely resembles a dead leaf that it thereby escapes the 

 attacks of its enemies. This is termed a " j^rotective resem- 



