148 " NATURAL HISTORY [chap, xxvii. 



twenty or thirty feet in diameter, whicli they are enabled 

 to do with comparative ease by means of their large feet, 

 with which they can grasp and throw backwards a quantity 

 of material. In the centre of this mound, at a depth of 

 two or three feet, the eggs are deposited, and are hatched 

 by the gentle heat produced by the fermentation of the 

 vegetable matter of the mound. When I first saw these 

 mounds in the island of Lombock, I could hardly believe 

 that they were made by such small birds, but I afterwards 

 met with them frequently, and have once or twice come 

 upon the birds engaged in making them. They run a 

 few steps backwards, grasping a quantity of loose material 

 in one foot, and throw it a long way behind them. 

 When once properly buried the eggs seem to be no more 

 cared for, the young birds working their way up through 

 the heap of rubbish, and running off at once into the forest. 

 They come out of the egg covered with thick downy 

 feathers, and have no tail, although the wings are full}' 

 developed. 



I was so fortunate as to discover a new species (Mega- 

 podius wallacei), which inhabits Gilolo, Ternate, and 

 Bouru. It is the handsomest bird of the genus, being 

 richly banded with reddish brown on the back and wings ; 

 and it differs from the other species in its habits. It fre- 

 quents the forests of the interior, and comes down to the 

 sea-beach to deposit its eggs, but instead of making a 



