328 NATURAL HISTORY. 



They are covered up as they are laid, and allowed to remain 

 until hatched. I am credibly informed, both by natives and 

 settlers living near their haunts, that it is not an unusual event 

 to obtain nearly a bushel of eggs at one time from a single 

 heap ; and as they are delicious eating they are eagerly sought 

 after." 



When the Brush Turkey is disturbed, it either runs through 

 the tangled underwood with singular rapidity, or springs upon 

 a low branch of some tree, and reaches the summit by a suc- 

 cession of leaps from branch to branch. This latter peculiarity 

 renders it an easy prey to the sportsman. 



MEGAPODIUS. 



Tumulus (Lat. a Mound), the Mound-making Megapodc. 



The MOUND-MAKING MEGAPODE inhabits the dense thickets 

 bordering on the sea-shore, and is never found far inland. 

 Like the Brush Turkey it deposits many eggs in one mound, 

 but instead of placing them at intervals in the mound, the bird 

 makes deep holes from five to six feet, at the bottom of which 

 the eggs are deposited. The natives obtain the eggs by 

 scratching up the earth with their fingers, until they have 

 traced the hole to the bottom ; a very laborious task, as the 

 holes seldom run straight, and often turn off at right angles 



