CONCEALED OR COVERED NESTS 129 



where the fermentation has begun, in a mass of light, 

 fine leaf-mould, will be found the eggs placed with the 

 thin ends downwards, often in a circle, with three or 

 four in the centre about six inches apart. At one 

 side, where the eggs have been first laid, they will 

 probably be found more or less incubated, but in the 

 centre, where the eggs are placed last, quite fresh; 

 and if only one pair of birds have laid in the mound, 

 about twelve to eighteen eggs will be the complement, 

 and will be found arranged as described above. On 

 the other hand, if several females resort to the same 

 nest the regularity w411 be greatly interfered with, and 

 two or three eggs in different stages of development 

 will be found close to one another, some quite fresh, 

 others within a few days of being hatched. There 

 are usually ten eggs in the first layer, five or six in 

 the second, three or four only in the centre." Lastly, 

 the Maleo {Megacephalon maleo), an inhabitant of the 

 forests on the Sanghir Islands and Celebes, comes 

 down in the breeding season to the sandy beaches, 

 often from forest haunts ten or fifteen miles away, 

 to deposit an egg periodically in a burrow in the loose 

 sand. Sometimes but one or two eggs are found in a 

 burrow, sometimes seven or eight, each egg placed at 

 a distance of six or eight inches apart, and each laid 

 by a separate bird. 



With regard to the origin of this most extraordinary 

 method of reproduction, Dr Wallace has suggested 

 that it may be due primarily to certain peculiarities 



