MEGAPODES. 229 



covered with down, and follow the mother closely in search of food. She is accus- 

 tomed to spread her fan-like tail, and the young keep beneath it and are thus protected 

 from showers and enemies of the air, as they only appear when called to pick up some 

 food the hen has found. The species known, beside the one already named, are, 

 P. bicalcaratum, P. germanii^ P. helence, P. schleiermachi, P. chalcurum, and P. 

 napoleonis. 



The genus Pavo contains the peacocks, of which there are two distinct species, 

 and one which is very doubtfully distinct. The common species, P. cristatus, is 

 known to everyone, and this gorgeous bird, so little appreciated because it is so famil- 

 iar, is very plentiful in the forests and jungles, as well as in open places in India and 

 Ceylon. It delights in hilly and mountainous districts, and it appears to be a curious 

 fact that whenever peafowl are met with in the jungle, it is a pretty sure sign that 

 tigers are in the vicinity. Whether the tigers rely upon the bird's ability to detect 

 the approach of enemies, for they are very wary and always on the lookout, or whether 

 the agile cat watches them in order to secure one or more for a meal, is unknown, but 

 probably both of these suppositions influence the beast to seek the bird's resorts. 

 The peafowl go in flocks, sometimes in very large numbers, and it is a beautiful sight 

 when they take wing, their long trains glistening in the sun. The hens lay from 

 April to October according to the locality, and the eggs, eight or ten in number, of a ' 

 dull brownish white color, are placed on the bare ground in the most secluded part of 

 the jungle. The young males retain a plumage like that of the hen for a year or 

 eighteen months, and the train, which is composed of the upper tail-coverts, not the tail- 

 feathers, is not perfected until the third year. Peafowl are omnivorous, and they eat 

 insects, worms, reptiles, flesh, fish, grain, etc. The Javan peafowl (P. muticus) is, as 

 its trivial name implies, a native of Java, but is not resti'icted to that island, being 

 found also in the Burmese and Malay countries, Ceylon, and possibly Sumatra. It is 

 a handsomer bird than the common peacock, having the crest, head, and neck rich 

 green, and the breast bluish-green margined with gold. Its back is bright copper- 

 color barred with green and light brown, and the upper tail-coverts are a rich green 

 with gold and copper-color reflections. The train is similar to that of P. cristatus, 

 but more bronzy in color. The two species resemble each other in their habits. A 

 third supposed species, P. nigripennis, in appearance like P. cristattis, with black 

 shoulders to the wings, is probably but a melanitic variety of the common bird. 



SUB-ORDER II. GALLLN^E-PERISTEROPODES. 



The Peristeropodous Gallinae comprises two families, the Megapodidaj and the Cra- 

 cida?, containing those gallinaceous birds with feet like pigeons, or all four toes 

 placed upon the same plane, the hallux not being raised, as is the case with the species 

 of the other families included in this order. 



Two sub-families are generally acknowledged in the family MEGAPODID^E, viz., 

 MfLrapodina3, containing two genera and between twenty-five and thirty species, and 

 Talegallinae also with three genera and six species. The extraordinary method of 

 nidification adopted by these birds is unparalleled in the whole range* of Ornithology, 

 and they are the first feathered inventors of an artificial incubator to take the place of 

 the mother, and provide the warmth necessary to develop the embryo contained in 

 the egg into the perfect chick, which is ordinarily supplied by the parent's body. 

 The Megapodes are usually rather small birds, but with enormous feet, and dwell in 



