7^ Habit and Instinct. 



performance by others. And to suppose that a young 

 bird can learn to fly as well as the little swallows flew, 

 merely by watching their parents, is to suppose that which 

 practical experience and the teaching of psychology alike 

 show to be intrinsically improbable. 



There is, however, a case — perhaps one of the most 

 remarkable at present known — where a bird whose parents, 

 we may note, take no interest in its welfare, flies almost 

 as soon as it is hatched. This is the megapode. The 

 family of the Mcgapodidse are peculiar gallinaceous birds, 

 of the Australian region. They deposit their eggs in large 

 mounds, which are heaped up by the birds for that purpose 

 (whence the popular name of "mound-birds," or "mound- 

 builders "), or in holes in the warm sand. Many hens 

 lay their eggs in the same spot, and take no further interest 

 in their welfare, or that of the chicks which are hatched 

 from them. The eggs are of relatively enormous size, and 

 are laid at considerable intervals of time. From each there 

 emerges a young bird which is already well fledged. I 

 could scarcely believe that the stuffed specimen Mr. Chap- 

 man showed me in New York was that of a bird only just 

 hatched. Dr. Worcester, who has had opportunities of 

 studying Megapodius cumingi in the Philippine Islands, in- 

 forms me that the newly hatched bird has often to make 

 its way through six feet of earth before it reaches the 

 surface. " It is a common occurrence," he says, in a 

 letter from which he kindly allows me to quote, "in 

 digging into mounds for eggs, to meet the young birds 

 on their way to the surface. If not seized before they 

 can free themselves they will invariably escape, as they fly 

 actively and promptly. I once made an unsuccessful 

 attempt to seize a newly hatched bird while digging in 

 a mound, and it flew several rods into thick brush, 

 escaping without difficulty." 



