126 BIRDS' NESTS 



exotic species in almost every other part of the world, 

 but which it is not necessary to specify here. They 

 all illustrate the same interesting fact that such 

 situations are sought in a most intelligent manner 

 for the purpose of concealing an otherwise con- 

 spicuous nest. 



The Mound Birds (Megapodiidae) furnish our last 

 examples of covered or concealed nests. In this 

 family are included, not only the typical Mound Birds, 

 but the Brush Turkeys and the Maleos. These 

 birds are distributed over most parts of Australia and 

 northwards among the various islands from New 

 Guinea to the Philippines, westwards possibly to the 

 Nicobars, although the species of the latter may not 

 be strictly indigenous. Unquestionably the method 

 of nesting adopted by the species in the present 

 family is not only unique, but the most extraordinary 

 of all known means of avine reproduction. Briefly, 

 the eggs are deposited in the sand, or in mounds con- 

 structed by the parent bird, and left without any more 

 attention on their part, the young being hatched by 

 artificial heat, and being fully feathered when they 

 break from the shell are able to fly almost as soon as 

 they reach the outer world. No less than twenty-six 

 species of these birds have been described in the 

 British Museum Catalogue of Birds and elsewhere. 

 These wonderful mound nests differ somewhat in 

 dimensions and materials, as well as in situation, 

 according to the species that form them. Some are 



