8o THE WORLD'S BIRDS. 



the root, and hind-toe large and set low ; wings 

 short and rounded ; tail medium to short. 



Plumage. — Usually sombre, brown or black, and never 

 brilliant. Head often with more or less bare red 

 skin. No sexual difference or seasonal change, 

 and young much like adults. 



Young. — Active and feeding themselves, and hatched 

 with wings fully fledged, so that they fly strongly 

 at once and live independently from the first. 



Nest. — The eggs are laid either in a mound of vegetable 

 refuse, and scratched up by the birds, or are buried 

 by them in sand. When scratching, the birds do 

 not rake, but seize what they are working in in 

 footfuls, so to speak, and throw it backwards. 



Eggs. — Very large for the size of the bird ; spotless, 

 white or pinkish. 



Incubation. — The eggs take six weeks to hatch ; there 

 is no incubation, the heat of the mound sufficing ; 

 the male, however, turns and airs the eggs. 



Courtship. — In the Brush-Turkey the male expands a 

 brilliant yellow wattle at the base of his neck. 



Food. — Herbage, grain, insects, etc. 



Gait. — A walk or run. 



Flight. — Heavy and short ; but some small species 

 seem to be able to make fairly long flights, such as 

 from island to island. 



Disposition and General Habits. — They seem some- 

 what spiteful and quarrelsome, but not much is 

 known. 



Note. — Loud and harsh ; in the male Brush-Turkey a 

 boom. 



Economic Qualities. — Their flesh and eggs are good ; 

 if they were domesticated they would be valuable 

 poultry, owing to their early maturity. 



Captivity. — ^They live well, and one species, the Brush- 

 Turkey {Catheturus lathami) not unfrequently 

 breeds. 



