THE MEGAPODE 101 



of the jungle is raked over with such assiduity by this 

 powerful and active bird. During the day the megapode 

 is sometimes silent, but ever and anon it gives way to what 

 may in charity be presumed to be a crow an uncouth, 

 discordant effort to imitate the boastful, tuneful challenge 

 of the civilised rooster. In common with "Elia" (and 

 others) the megapode has no ear for music. It seems to 

 have been practising " cock-a-doodle-doo " all its life in the 

 solitary corners and undergrowth, and to have not yet 

 arrived within quavers of it. It "abhors the measured 

 malice of music." 



The inclusion among the birds of the air of such an 

 inveterate land lover, a bird which seldom takes flight of 

 its own motive, is permissible on general principles, while 

 its practical exercise of rare domestic economy entitles it 

 to special and complimentary notice. Reference is made 

 elsewhere to the surpassing intelligence of the megapode 

 in taking advantage of the heat caused by the fermentation 

 of decaying vegetation to hatch out huge eggs. Long 

 before the astute Chinese practised the artificial incubation 

 of hens' and ducks' eggs, these sage birds of ours had 

 mastered it. Several birds seem to co-operate in the build- 

 ing of a mound, which may contain many cartloads of 

 material, but each bird appears to have a particular area in 

 which to deposit her eggs. The chicks apparently earn their 

 own living immediately they emerge fully fledged from the 

 mound, and are so far independent of maternal care that 

 they are sometimes found long distances from the nearest 

 possible birthplace, scratching away vigorously and flying 

 when frightened with remarkable vigour and speed, though 

 but a few hours old. I come gladly to the conclusion that 

 the megapode is a sagacious bird, not only in the avoidance 

 of the dismal duty of incubation, but in respect of the 

 making of those great mounds of decaying vegetable 

 matter and earth which perform the function so effectively. 

 In a particularly rugged part of the island is a mound 

 almost completely walled in by immense boulders. In such 

 a situation the birds could hardly have found it possible to 



