Megapodes. 387 



this mound dug away almost to the level 

 of the surrounding land, but only got 

 three eggs from it, one quite fresh and 

 two in which the chicks were somewhat 

 developed. ... I made careful enquiries 

 among the natives about these birds, 

 and from them I learnt that they usually 

 get four or five eggs from a mound, but 

 sometimes they get as many as ten ; they 

 all assert that only one pair of birds are 

 concerned in the making of a mound, 

 and that they only work at night. When 

 newly made, the mounds (as I was in- 

 formed) are small, but are gradually 

 enlarged by the birds. The natives never 

 dig a mound away, but they probe it 

 with a stick or with the end of their daos, 

 and when they find a spot where the 

 stick sinks in easily, they scoop out the 

 sand with their hands, generally, but not 

 always, filling in the holes again after 

 they have abstracted the" eggs. . . . 

 The eggs are usually buried from 3^ to 

 4 feet deep, and how the young manage 

 to extricate themselves from the super- 

 incumbent mass of soil and rubbish seems 

 a mystery." 



The eggs are usually elliptical in shape, 

 sometimes oval, and very large for the 

 size of the bird. The shell is enveloped 



