THE GAME-BIRDS AND RAILS 



411 



The MEGAPODES and BRUSH-TURKEYS, though dull and uninteresting-looking birds, are, on 

 account of the facts connected with the propagation of their species, quite remarkable. They 

 do not brood over their eggs, as do other birds, but instead bury them, either in sand in 

 the neighbourhood of warm springs or in heaps of decaying vegetable matter. In the latter 

 case the material is often collected by several birds working together. Mounds of 8 feet high 

 and 60 feet in circumference have been found, the work of the NlCOBAR MEGAPODE. Such 

 have been many years in use, material being added each season. Into this mass the female 

 digs down and deposits an egg every second day, covering it up as soon as laid. There 

 it remains till hatched, when the young, probably aided by its mother, forces its way up to 

 the surface, and emerges, not a downy nestling as one would expect, but clothed with feathers 

 differing but slightly in texture from those worn in the adult state. Owing to the precocious 

 development, young megapodes are able to fly within an hour after birth. 



There are many different kinds of megapodes occurring in Australia, Samoa, and the 

 Nicobar and Philippine Islands. 



Phots bj ScMailic Photo. Co.] 



RAZOR-BILLED CURASSOW 



So called from the sharp ridge along the top of the beak 



Photo bj S.holailic Photo. Co.] 



CRESTED CURASSOW 



So called from its crest of curled feathers 



The CURASSOWS and GUANS are very handsome birds, but probably quite unknown to most 

 of our readers, yet they may always be seen in Zoological Gardens. They are closely re- 

 lated to the megapodes, which we have just been discussing; but their nesting habits are 

 quite different. They lay their eggs in nests, either on the ground or in trees, and brood 

 over them like other birds. Many have brilliantly coloured bare skin on the head and 

 handsome crests. They are natives of Central and South America, where they are often 

 kept by the settlers, as they tame easily. It is said that one of the guans, when crossed with 

 the domesticated fowl, becomes intensely pugnacious, and superior to the game-cock for 

 fighting purposes. 



BUSTARD-QUAIL AND PLAIX-WANDERERS 



These are small and quail-like in appearance, though they are probably only distant 

 relatives of the Game-birds. But they are, nevertheless, remarkable birds. A great authority, 

 Mr. A. O. Hume, writing of the INDIAN BUSTARD-QUAIL, says of them: " The most remarkable 

 point in the life-history of these bustard-quails is the extraordinary fashion in which, amongst 

 them, the position of the sexes is reversed. The females are the larger and handsomer birds. 

 The females only call, the females only fight natives say that they fight for the males, and 

 probably this is true. The males . . . only ... sit upon the eggs, the females meanwhile 

 larking about, calling, and fighting, without any care for their obedient mates; and, lastly, the 

 males tend . . . the young brood." 



