292 MR. G. R. GRAY ON THE MEGAPODES. [JUDC 25, 



stretched out in a line with the body, or they ascend to the top of 

 the tree by leaping from branch to branch ; and should they still be 

 alarmed they will fly off, with a heavy flight, for a short distance, to 

 some other more secure position, where they can only be approached 

 by carefully proceeding under cover of the large trees. It has, 

 however, been remarked that some species have never been seen to 

 perch . 



They are often heard uttering at intervals a loud clucking or 

 screeching noise, while they lie concealed beneath the shady branches 

 of the trees during the midday heat. Some have been observed to 

 dust themselves on the sandy ground after the manner of gallina- 

 ceous birds ; and they have been noticed to be apparently very pug- 

 nacious at times, swiftly chasing each other along the ground, and 

 calling to one another more loudly than usual, suddenly stopping, 

 and then again running off in pursuit. 



Their food is entirely sought for on the ground ; it is obtained by 

 scratching among and turning up the fallen de'bris beneath the trees 

 and shrubs in the forests, &c., and consists of seeds, fallen fruits, 

 insects, and small snails : but one species is thought to feed chiefly 

 on fallen fruits resembling the cotyledons of leguminous seeds ; and 

 rice is also said to form a portion of its food. 



The species that form mounds for the purpose of incubation, 

 usually select during the tropical spring a retired and shady place in 

 the dense thickets or brush, occasionally surrounding the trunk of a 

 tree by a portion of the materials employed in its formation, should 

 it come within the prescribed limit of the mound. 



The mound is composed more or less of vegetable matter, which 

 becomes decayed and rotten during the period that the birds are 

 engaged in laying their eggs, which is thought to be an occupation 

 of two or three months' duration. The size of the mounds varies 

 with the species ; some have been found reaching to 14 feet in height 

 (24 feet from the base of the slope to the summit) and 150 feet in 

 circumference, and some are even larger. The materials required 

 in their construction are collected by the birds by means of their 

 large feet, either by carrying a small quantity at a time in one foot, 

 or by scratching it together with their lengthened claws, and thus 

 leaving the earth bare for some distance round the mound. The 

 mound of some species {Talegallus) is entirely composed of vegetable 

 matter ; others {Leipoa ocellata, Meyapodius macyiUivrayi, Mega- 

 podius ttunulus), however, mix with the vegetable matter earth, 

 sand, gravel, stones, and even, in some cases, fragments of corals ; 

 in fact, the birds employ whatever falls in their way at the locality 

 they have selected. The same pair frequent the mound year after 

 year, destroying that of the former year on the renewal of the sea- 

 son for laying ; thus the vegetable portion of the centre becomes 

 mixed with the sand and earth that formed the outer part of the 

 former mound. The pair, on renewing the mound, first collect a new 

 mass of vegetable debris for the centre, on which is scratched some of 

 the former material to a certain height, leaving the centre somewhat 

 hollow. It is in the middle, at various depths, from 18 inches to 



